Take the Heat
by Science-Fantasy93
Summary: The Knights and Diamonds are rival mob families in a small town in MN. But when James and Katie meet at a party, they can't deny the fire. But with almost 100 years of hatred and violence between their families, taking the heat is about to get difficult. In fact, some might say it's going to get burning hot...
1. Chapter 1

**_Hey, everyone! Welcome to "Take the Heat"!_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Big Time Rush. I just borrow James and Katie and put them in as many bizarre situations that I can come up with. I also don't own Dodge Challengers, or anything affiliated with them. Everything mentioned that has to do with them belongs to, well, not me._**

**_Warnings: Strong language, mentions of violence, mentions and uses of firearms, and crime families. Also, and I say this in pretty much every story, there's a very good chance the rating will get bumped up from T to M. But I'll let you guys know if and when that'll happen :)_**

**_A/N: If you've read my stories, you know my A/Ns usually drag on longer than the actual chapters, and this one probably isn't going to be an exception. You can blame Justin Bieber for this story. It's because of his song "As Long As You Love Me" that I came up with the idea in the first place. I heard that song on the radio one day, and I really loved the idea for the song, and I wanted to do something with it. As a result, the concept for this story was created. I owe a lot to Jatieluv for this story. We tried a few different variations of this idea, and came up with a couple of good ones, so some of the stuff - different characters and bits and pieces of plots - is definitely more hers than mine, so I'm giving her a lot of credit for this story. I also want to thank Dana2184 for putting up with my constant teasing when it comes to my stories. She's always willing to listen to me ramble on and on about my story ideas and she always gives me her honest opinion on them, so thank you, sweetie!_**

**_The inspiration for the mob families in this came from the 1920s mobs, such as Al Capone's gang. Obviously the story takes place in present day, but there'll probably be throwbacks to the '20s throughout the story._**

**_Well, kudos to those who managed to get through the A/N!_**

**_Enjoy the first chapter! :)_**

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**Chapter One: Masquerade Crashers**

**James' POV**

She was beautiful.

That was the first thing that came to mind as I walked towards the black Dodge Challenger. My dad had bought it for me as a_ thank you_ gift for helping him out of a tight jam. It helps to have friends on the police force when you're in the kind of business we're in.

"She's got a built in state of the art sound system," Dad said in satisfaction as I circled the car, examining every inch of the exterior as best I could, even though it was late October and mid-evening – therefore, dark. The lights that lined the driveway up to our mansion glinted off the black finish and the wheels. "Leather seats, a Mopar Pistol Grip Shifter, and some kind of hands-free cell phone device. There's a lot more, but I can't remember it all." He tossed the car's booklet to me, and I caught it neatly.

"Thank you so much!" I beamed at him. "Seriously, you didn't have to get me this. You'd get me out of jail in a heartbeat. I got you out in two heartbeats."

He chuckled. "It's no problem. You saved my ass. Oh, here's the key. The car can start via the remote control as well for a faster getaway, which I know you'll need before long."

I nodded. Being forced to peel away from the curb was another hazard of the business we're in. It's why having a state-of-the-art car is always a necessity, not just a luxury.

"Plus, consider it a consolation gift."

I looked at him questioningly. "Don't you mean prize?"

He shook his head. "No. I mean to make up for the Mustang that the Knights blew up."

My jaw clenched slightly. My dad had gotten me a Mustang convertible for my twentieth birthday, and the Knights had let us know their opinion about it by blowing it up two days later.

Of course, they gave their son, Kendall, the same car for his birthday, so we responded likewise.

They're still pissed at us. How do they think we feel?

"Ah," I said through gritted teeth. "That wasn't your fault. I don't think they make bomb-resistant cars."

"I still feel bad about it."

"We got our revenge, though." I smiled in grim satisfaction.

He nodded. "That we did."

I eyed the car. She was so gorgeous. I couldn't wait to take her out for a long drive, out past Cherry Lake. I bet she handled smoothly on the highway. I was looking forward to getting her up to seventy miles per hour.

I ran my hand over the hood, admiring the smooth finish. Stunning.

"It feels like you," Dad said to me. "It has you written all over it, doesn't it?"

I nodded. "She really does. Damn." I unlocked the doors and slid into the driver's seat. I caressed the steering wheel and the dashboard, before placing my hand on the shifter. I swished around in the seat so that I was facing the front, and I adjusted the seat to my liking.

"Perfect."

"Good, I'm glad," Dad said brightly. "And here, this comes with the car." He placed a simple black masquerade mask in my hand.

I stared at it. "They were giving out masquerade masks at the car dealership?"

"Ahem…well…not exactly…"

I raised my eyebrow at him. "There's a catch, isn't there? Or a payoff?"

"Not really…"

"Spill it."

He shuffled his feet awkwardly. "It's just…well…tonight is the Knights' annual Halloween masked ball."

"Uh huh…And I'm holding a masquerade mask…Please tell me you're not going to try to do what I think you're going to try to do…"

He winced. "I have to get it back!"

"Oh, sure, let's break into the Knight estate, rummage through their two-hundred rooms, and find a silver bracelet from 1925!"

"Sarcasm doesn't become you," he said mildly.

"Dad…"

"It's the only night when we can get away with it! They have at least two-hundred guests coming, people from all over and out of town. Everyone will be masked. No one will recognize us!"

"Don't you need an invitation?" I prodded him. "I'm sure they'll have guards at the door to keep people like, oh, say – _us_ – out."

"We have invitations! Two of them to be exact."

I rubbed my temples with my fingertips. "Who are they addressed to?"

"Alexander Parker II and Alexander Parker III."

I groaned. "The Parkers? Really? As in Parker Resources?"

"The one and only."

"How the hell did you get their invitation?"

"Simple. I did them a favor, and asked for their invitations in return. They didn't mind, they already had another party that they were planning on attending."

"Yippee for them."

"So, I RSVPed the Knights from the elder Alexander's phone."

"And when was this?"

He looked down at the ground and clasped his hands behind his back nervously.

"Dad…?"

"Last week…"

"Last week?! Are you nuts?! You let this sit for a whole week without telling me that you wanted us to break into a mansion that makes Fort Knox look like it has the protection of a fast food restaurant?!"

"See, I knew you'd react like this. That's why I didn't tell you."

"You mean, you knew I'd react and point out all the flaws in your plan."

"Exactly. And that'd be a mood killer."

"Do you hear yourself when you speak?" I was out of the car by this point, pacing up and down the length of the Challenger, breathing heavily. A thought crossed my mind, and I rounded on him. "Does Mom and Shane know?"

"Um…well…they will when we get back from the party…"

I face-palmed. "Unbelievable. Isn't there a Mrs. Parker or something?"

"There was."

"Where is she?"

"Well, her name isn't Mrs. Parker anymore."

"What's her name now?"

"Mrs. Livingston."

"Oh man…" I heaved out another breath. "Okay, fine. I'll do it. But I'm not happy about this, just so you know. In fact, I'm really, really pissed off. Oh, and if you get us killed or held hostage, I'm never talking to you again."

"Fair enough," he agreed, beaming at me.

"Are we riding together?"

"Nope. We might need separate escapes. And no one knows the Challenger yet, so they won't get suspicious."

"True…" He had a point.

"So, what's the plan?" I continued on, finally halting in front of him.

"I'm going to leave right away, and tell them you've been held up with business. I'll mingle, and once you arrive, which should be a half hour or so after me, I'll go look for the bracelet. Your job is to distract everyone from my absence. Be charming. Dance with girls. Make small talk with the men. If anyone notices my disappearance, tell them I have a horrid sense of direction and that I probably got lost on the way to the bathroom. If people begin to get really suspicious, use the fake-texting trick, where you pretend to receive a text from me, announcing that I'm on my way back."

I nodded. "Okay, sounds simple enough."

"Right."

"Do you know where the bracelet is?"

"Yes. I have an inside source that says that it's kept in a safe in their parlor." He grinned. "And you know how good I am at safecracking."

It was true – he was one of the best. He had attempted to teach me, but I hadn't quite picked up on it. I could do it, but you'd better hope that there wasn't a bomb in there that needed to be deactivated quickly, because it would take me a couple days to get into the safe.

"Okay. So, you're about to leave?"

"Yes. So you get inside and get changed. It's a dressy event, so put on something nice." He indicated his black suit. "Maybe something like this."

"Sounds good. Good luck."

"And good luck to you. Text me when you get there. We should meet up for a few minutes for appearances' sake, and then I'll head off. Oh, and remember to be armed, just in case." He passed me my invitation, before walking towards the garage, where his dark silver Lamborghini was parked. It was fairly new. In fact, this was the first time he had taken it out of the garage to drive it somewhere with a destination in mind. That was another problem with our business – we constantly had to buy new cars, or else get plain ones and change the license plates out every few days, if we wanted to remain undercover. As a result, we had a garage lined with Ferraris and Porsches, surrounded by Toyota Priuses and Ford Explorers.

I watched as he reached the garage, and began making my way back up to the house. The Knights weren't by any extent wealthier or more powerful than we were. In fact, our protection was probably even tighter than theirs was, and their guards would put the Buckingham Palace guards to shame. Both of our houses resembled small palaces, sitting more or less on opposite sides of town, in equally wealthy, upper class neighborhoods.

I made my way up to my room. Once I had locked myself inside, I crossed to my window, just in time to see the taillights of the Lamborghini disappear at the gate and make a sharp right turn.

With a resigned sigh to tonight's fate, I walked over to my closet and quickly located a black suit and a small gun that I could easily tuck into the waistband of my pants.

Twenty minutes later I was ready. I snuck out of the house so that my mom and younger brother didn't get suspicious – neither of them would actually approve of us stealing the bracelet out of the Knights' house, even though they'd done it to us on countless occasions – and went down to the Challenger. I slid into it, feeling like James Bond – who I'm pretty sure I'm named after, though neither of my parents will admit to it – started the car, buckled up my seatbelt, and made a wide U-turn so that I could pull straight out of the long driveway.

By this point, you're probably wondering what business my dad and I are in. If you are, I'll give it to you straight - you've heard of the gangsters from the '20s, such as Al Capone, right? Well, we're just like them, only modern. The Knights are a mob family too, our rivals.

They didn't used to be.

Our two families have been in the mob business since the prohibition of the 1920s. In fact, family legend states that we were in the business a good forty years before the prohibition act was put in place. Anyway, the Diamonds were some of the first residents of Cherry Lake, Minnesota. In 1919, a moonshiner named Kenneth Knight moved in to town with his family. He and my great grandfather struck up a partnership, and to cement it, his wife gave Kenneth's wife a silver bracelet. The partnership lasted for nine years, during which the Diamonds and Knights ran Cherry Lake. But then, the Knights betrayed us, sold us out to the Stetsons, a new gang family that had just moved in a couple years before.

The partnership was effectively ruined. Furious, my great-grandfather stole the bracelet back. The Knights were outraged, claiming that it had been a friendly gift, not a bribe. My great-grandfather retorted that it lost all friendly values once the Knights had very unfriend-ily sold us out.

To this day, the Diamonds, Knights, and Stetsons control the town, always fighting for power. We back different candidates, support them, finance them, use our influences to get them elected into office, and go from there. It's an open secret, all whispers, no real acknowledgement, that it's always one of our families who run Cherry Lake.

As for the bracelet...the Knights eventually stole it back. So, guess what the Diamonds did. That's right. We stole it again. Back and forth, back and forth, for the past eighty years. The Knights stole it again six months ago, and now my dad and I were on our way to steal it back.

I drove across town, pulling up outside the Knights' mansion fifteen minutes later. I parked and got out of the car, locking it up. I slipped the key into my pants' pocket and pulled out my phone to text my dad: **I'm here.**

He responded within thirty seconds: **I'm over by the food table in the ballroom.**

I pocketed my phone, held my mask up to my face, and walked up to the double front doors. Two uniformed security guards stood there, blocking the doors. What a warm welcome.

I showed them my invitation. "I'm Alexander Parker III. I got held up with business, but I believe my dad arrived a little while ago?" Might as well make myself sound convincing.

One of them nodded. "Yes. Go on in."

"Thanks." I walked into the entrance hall and looked around. Very nice…It was all maple wood and crystal chandeliers and paintings of knights. Talk about making a statement.

There were maids stationed by the door who were taking guests' coats and purses. I had one of them direct me towards the ballroom, and I made my way there.

The ballroom looked like something out of a movie, the floor smooth blond wood, the windows floor to ceiling and crystal clear. I felt like I had just stepped into a Disney princess movie.

I saw my dad, a similar mask to mine covering most of his face, at the far end of the room, where a long table piled with food was positioned. I hurried over to him. As I passed by a small group of people, I caught sight of a brunette girl in a red strapless dress and a silver mask. I wasn't sure, but it felt like our eyes locked, and I could have sworn that a spark of fire shot through my body, heating it up.

Trying to shake the moment off, I finally reached my dad.

He smiled when he saw me. "Ah, Alex. Everyone," he indicated the people he was standing with, "this is my son, Alex. Alex, this is…" He proceeded to introduce me to all of them.

We chatted with them for a few minutes, before he excused himself, saying that he had just seen someone he worked with. He hurried off into the crowd of people, disappearing within seconds.

I stayed with the people he had introduced me to for a couple more minutes, before excusing myself as well.

During the next hour, I talked with people, giving them bullshit answers when they asked me questions, and dodged around anyone's inquiries about where my father was. Occasionally people did get a little nosy, in which case I pointed out that there were dozens of men in this room who were dressed exactly like he was, and suggested that they go and find him themselves if they wanted to talk to him so badly.

The third time this happened, I was back at the food table, and in a very bad mood. The music was the ballroom-type that you would expect at an affair like this, and it was beyond boring. People wouldn't leave me alone, and I was about ready to explode.

The couple who had been nagging me about my dad's whereabouts hastened away, looking very offended, but I couldn't even pretend to care.

There was laughter from behind me, and when I turned, I saw that it was the brunette girl that I had locked eyes with before. She had snuck up on me and apparently heard the last part of my conversation with the couple.

"If you were a snake charmer, you'd be dead," she informed me.

I eyed her. "If you were a lion tamer, you'd be lunch."

She grinned widely at me. "Touché."

I nodded and turned back to the food.

"So, who are you?" she asked, leaning against the table, and I took her in. Her dress was bright, short and strapless with a diagonally cut sheer, ruffled hem; glittery heeled sandals the color of dark smoke, and a silver mask. Her deep brown hair fell down her back and over her shoulders in curls, and a bunch of her hair was piled into a bun. A silver necklace, bracelet, and earring set completed the look. There was something familiar about her, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. I had the weirdest feeling that I had met her before, but I wasn't sure why.

Shaking off the strange feeling, I smiled slowly. "If I told you, I'd end up bitten by the snakes here."

She chuckled. "I like you. You're interesting."

"Thanks. Who're you?"

"If I told you, all the hungry lions would attack me."

I smiled a little. Finally. Some interesting company.

"Anyway," I continued on, "isn't the point of the masked ball to hide your identity?"

"Yeah. That's if you're not famous or important. Apparently, whoever your dad is, he's both."

"Same for you?"

She nodded. "My parents are pretty known in this town."

"I know how that goes. It sucks."

"That it does. So," she turned to me, facing me straight on, "let's make a pact – we stick together tonight, and we don't reveal who we are to each other, letting the other person go incognito."

"Sounds like a plan." I held out my hand, and she shook it.

"Well, until midnight at least," she said wryly.

"I'm sorry?"

"Well, everyone's supposed to unmask themselves at midnight." She rolled her eyes. "I think it's some kind of historical tradition. I like to hide out when that happens. At least right now I have some degree of privacy."

"Gotcha." I bit my lip, and pulled out my phone. "I just need to text my dad really quick and see where he is."

"Go for it." She snatched up some kind of shrimp cocktail.

I typed out: **We have until midnight – I just found out that we unmask ourselves then.** I sent it off and hoped Dad replied quickly.

He did so: **I'll work fast. I found the safe and I'm working on the combo now. Hey, maybe you should find the Knights' daughter and charm her, see if you can get the combination out of her ;)**

I rolled my eyes. I'd heard about the youngest Knight. I knew she was a couple of years younger than me, although people talked about her like she was thirteen or fourteen. From what I had heard, she was a royal brat, and her father and brother spoiled her rotten.

I glanced around the room. I knew her dad and brother were both tall and dirty blondes, and her mom was around average height and a redhead. The problem was, there were plenty of tall blonde women in the room, and even a few redheads. Yeah, there was no way I would be able to find her without asking someone. I briefly considered asking my companion if she knew where the baby Knight was, but the honest truth was that she seemed like a much better option for company.

"Looking for someone?" the girl asked, nibbling on a mini quiche.

"Nope. No one at all."

"Good." She looked up at me with what I had a feeling was a flirtatious smile. I responded likewise. There was something about her that was magnetic, that sent tremors through my body just by looking at her.

At ten-o-clock, the music stopped abruptly. Everyone looked around, trying to figure out where the sound had gone, but I wasn't complaining. There was about ten seconds of silence, and then a Rihanna song began blasting out.

"They always do this," my companion informed me as she snatched two glasses of wine from a passing waiter. She handed me one. "They torture us with three hours of ballroom music to make the old, snobby rich people happy, and then they turn on the pop music at ten. By that time, the people who would complain have either left, or are too inebriated to care. Check it out." She nodded towards an older woman who looked to be in her sixties or so, if her gray hair was any indication. She was doing some kind of hip shaking dance move, and drunkenly pleading with her husband to party with her.

I clapped my hand over my mouth in amusement. "Oh my God…"

"Right?" she took a sip of her wine. "This is when the party starts getting good. It's like the second half of a wedding reception."

I laughed at her analogy and drank a little bit of my wine. I knew I needed to be careful how much I drank, because there was a good chance that I would need to make a quick getaway, but I'd grown up around alcohol, plus I was 6'1, so a small glass of wine two hours before I left wasn't going to hurt me.

Once I had gotten through most of my wine, I turned to the girl.

"Would you like to dance?"

She smiled widely and set her glass on the table before placing her hand in mine. "I would love to."

I led her onto the dance floor, where people of all ages were now dancing.

I wrapped my arms around her waist, and she slid her arms around my neck, tossing her hair back over her shoulder. She gave me a shimmering smile, perfect white teeth against cherry red lipstick. "So, having fun yet?"

I grinned. "I'm having much more fun than I was an hour ago."

Her smile turned saucy. "Good." She shimmied a little so that my hands slid down to her lower back.

We danced straight through for the next hour and a half. At one point, she pressed her body against mine and let out a low whistle. "Oooh…you're built." She ran her hand over my upper arm. "Make a muscle for me?"

I obeyed, and she squeezed it. "That's hot."

"You think so?"

She nodded. "Very, very hot. I bet your abs are just as good."

I grinned. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

She stood on her tiptoes and leaned forward so that I could feel her breath against my ear. "As a matter of fact," she whispered huskily, "I would."

I inhaled sharply. I was going to guess that she wouldn't normally be this forthcoming if she wasn't wearing a mask. The mask acted as a shield, so that you wouldn't have to look at the face of the person that you're addressing.

But that was okay. It was a good way to get someone thinking about you, and by this point, I knew there was no doubt about it – I'd be thinking about her for a long time after tonight. But it wasn't just what she was saying or how she was moving. We had a connection, blatant chemistry. If we had been at a bar or a club, we probably would have ended up in a bathroom or in my car, ripping each others' clothes off and going at it like a couple of wild animals during mating season.

But we weren't. We were in the middle of a crowded, overheated ballroom with pop music blaring which, yeah, created a club atmosphere, but there was just something about the place that anchored my mind to the knowledge that this was a masquerade ball. In other words, not the place for a hookup, no matter how tempting it was.

But hey, maybe if I was lucky, she wouldn't be a huge supporter of the Knights, and she'd be okay with me being one of their rivals. Then we could get down to business, or at the very least exchange numbers.

I ran my fingers down her spine, over her dress zipper, and she arched a little. I could tell that she could feel the chemistry every bit as much as I could.

But it wasn't just the need to hookup with her that was driving me. There was more to it, much more than just sex. I had been able to tell, even after talking with her for two minutes, that she was unlike any other girl that I had ever met. I wanted to get to know her, find out who she was, what she was about, what she liked and disliked. I wanted to get to know her for her, and I wanted her to get to know me for me, not when we were both hiding behind masks and, in my case, an assumed identity.

At least, the clock struck twelve times, and the music stopped, someone taking the microphone: "All right, ladies and gentlemen! It is that time of night! On the count of three, reveal your face!"

Oh no…I did a quick check of my phone and saw that Dad had texted me seconds before: **I'm coming…brace yourself…**

That sounded ominous.

Everyone put their fingers on the tips of their masks, ready to lift up and off. My eyes shot to my companion's, and I knew that she was looking back at me, watching me.

"One…"

Where the hell was my dad?!

"Two…"

Oh man…I was going to have to take my mask off…Why had I gone along with his plan?!

"Three!" I was so going to kill him. I ripped my mask off, just as everyone else, including my companion, did so too.

I wasn't disappointed. She had large, long lashed golden brown eyes, a perfectly straight nose, and high cheekbones.

Her eyes took me in, and she smiled widely, letting me know that she liked what she saw.

And yet…

The feeling of familiarity was increasing steadily. She reminded me of someone…But who?

She held out her hand. "Let me introduce myself formally. I'm Katie Knight, AKA the baby of the Knight family and the hostess who doesn't want anyone to know who she is. Who are you?"

Oh…fuck! Of all the luck…I had just happened to lock eyes with the baby Knight and had danced and flirted with her?! Just. Fucking. Great.

Before I could answer, the ballroom doors spilled open, and my dad came crashing in, followed by a plethora of security guards. He had gotten himself caught.

"Wait…Isn't that – ?" she frowned for a second, and then her jaw dropped in realization when she realized who my dad was. "That's Jeff Diamond! I don't believe it! What the hell is he doing here?! He wasn't invited!"

"Yeah, and neither was I," I informed her. The moment of truth had arrived.

"Wait – what?" She turned to face me.

"I'm his son. James Diamond, at your service."

All the warmth had gone from her eyes as soon as I said my name, and she looked about ready to push me out a second story window.

Before she could put the plan into action, however, I was moving. I grabbed her arm and hauled her across the room, placing us between my dad and the security guards, effectively blocking them and giving my dad more time to escape.

I pulled my gun out of my waistband and placed it to Katie's temple, my arm wrapping lightly around her neck, giving her enough leeway to breathe. She struggled against me, screaming obscenities at me as she did her very best to pry my arm away from her, to no avail.

"If you shoot me, she dies," I snarled at the security guards.

They hesitated just long enough for me to drag Katie through the crowd. We reached the door and I pulled her through it. She continued to fight me as I locked us into a small room off the entrance hall. I barricaded the door with a chair and found duct tape in the desk drawer. I ripped a long strip off, pushed Katie into another chair, and used the tape to tie her wrists to the chair arms.

"Sorry about this," I told her as I stepped back to admire my handiwork. "It's nothing personal. It's just business."

She spat at me to let me know what she thought of my apology. "You can shove your business up your ass!" she snapped as she struggled against her bonds. "Why don't you just kill me and get it over with?"

"I'm not going to kill you," I told her as I walked over to the window. I unlocked it and opened it. "I was never going to kill you. It was all a bluff. The safety was on the entire time."

"Then – why – ?"

"Like I said, it was a bluff. I'm a lot of things, but I'm not going to kill an innocent girl." I nodded at her. "It was nice meeting you, Katie. Thanks for the dances." And with that goodbye, I climbed out the window and dropped to the ground.

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_**So...what'd you guys think? Did you like it? Did you find it interesting? Is it readable? Feel free (and by feel free, I mean pleeeeaaaassse) to review and let me know what you think :) And if there's any questions, go ahead and ask them. I know the whole concept is probably a little out of place and confusing, so just let me know if there's anything I should explain that I wasn't able to get to :)**_


	2. Chapter 2: Libraries and Street Racing

_**Yay! Chapter two is up :)**_

_**Disclaimer: I seriously doubt Nickelodeon would let me use Big Time Rush for this story. So no, I don't own Big Time Rush, or anything you guys might recognize.**_

_**Warnings: Language, innuendos, minor violence.**_

_**btrfanfiction1516: Thank you so much! You're so sweet! And I'm so happy you felt their chemistry, that was the idea :) Thank you again, and thank you for reviewing! I really appreciate it :)**_

_**Someone: (Awesome name, by the way) Aww, thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I'm definitely continuing this story :) Thank you again, and thank you so much for reviewing :) I appreciate it!**_

_**THANK YOU to everyone who has already read, reviewed, favorited, or followed this story! You're all so amazing!**_

_**Enjoy the chapter :)**_

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**Chapter Two: Libraries and Street Racing**

**James' POV (Cont.)**

I ran across the driveway, very aware of the security guards that were spilling out of the front door. I dashed over to where I had parked the Challenger, got it unlocked, and climbed in. I barely got myself buckled in before I started the car via the remote. I shot out of the driveway, the sound of gunshots echoing against the smoothed pavement.

I got onto the road, and via the Uconnect Phone hands-free device, I called my dad to let him know that I had escaped.

"Good," he said, sounding relieved. "I'm about halfway home now. Be careful, and watch out for any tails."

"I will," I assured him. "Did you get the bracelet?"

I could hear the grin in his voice as he answered. "As a matter of fact, I did."

I grinned too. "Awesome. See you in a few."

"See you in a few."

We hung up, and I focused on getting home safely, without anyone shooting at my car or trying to run it down. It wasn't easy, to say the least. Kevin Knight had sent quite a few of his men after me. I was forced to swerve, take detours, backtrack, and go down one-way streets to shake them. At one point one of them pulled up next to me on a two lane road, and began firing at my tires. I grabbed my gun, rolled down my window, and carefully aimed, before firing off one, two, three shots. All three shots hit his hood, finally getting through the metal. I wasn't sure what exactly I had hit, but I did know that smoke began issuing from under his hood. He flipped me off before pulling over to the side of the road.

Oh well. Fuck you very much too.

I somehow managed to get into the gated community that we live in. It wasn't until I saw the gates that surrounded my house that I breathed out a sigh of relief.

I drove up to the gates, punched in the security code on the keychain, and they slid open. I pulled in, tapped in the code again, and they closed.

I made my way up the driveway, into the garage, and turned off the car. I got out, locked it up, and closed the garage door, entering the house through the connecting door.

The house was warm and smelled like cinnamon. I breathed in deeply, creeping through the kitchen, past the living room, and upstairs to my dad's office. He was sitting in there, examining the bracelet.

He looked up as I entered. "Close the door, please. And lock it?"

I did so. "It's the right bracelet, right?"

He nodded. "And in perfect condition."

"Well, if they care about a bracelet enough to break into someone's house to steal it, then I imagine they'd keep it in mint direction."

"Very true. So…you found Katie Knight?"

"More like she found me. We didn't know who the other person was. She was nothing like what I thought she'd be like."

"Well, she was more or less kept out of the business until she was sixteen," Dad said with a shrug.

"What happened?"

"I imagine she started getting curious about it and they began to include her in their decisions and such. You two have – what? – a two year age difference?"

"Um…I think so. She's eighteen, right?"

"I believe so. And then you and Kendall are the same age, give or take a few months."

"Okay."

"So, things went well?"

"Better than they did for you," I told him, sitting down. "What happened?"

"When I was trying to make my escape, I ran right into a couple of security guards. Dumbass move. I couldn't shake them. Thanks for creating enough of a distraction for me to escape."

"No problem, although I'm pretty sure they'll be after me now. I held a gun to the baby Knight's head."

"Yeah, Kevin Knight won't be happy," Dad said dryly. "Was the safety on?"

"Of course."

"Good."

"Does Mom and Shane know yet?" I asked him.

"Not yet…I'll let them know tomorrow…"

"Have fun with that." With that, I turned and headed out the door.

* * *

**Katie's POV**

"What an utter disaster!" Dad was ranting and raving, pacing up and down the length of the ballroom. "Jeff and James Diamond managed to get into the party and they got the bracelet!"

"Not only that, but Katie was dancing and flirting with James," Kendall aimed accusingly at me.

I crossed my arms. "I didn't know who he was. We were all in masks. How the hell were we supposed to tell who was who? Besides, I didn't even know what he looked like until tonight. No one told me."

Mom wrapped a protective arm around me. "It was a misunderstanding. And none of this is our fault. The Diamonds are the ones who broke in."

"They didn't exactly break in," I pointed out. "They walked right in through the front door."

"How did they do that anyway?" Kendall demanded.

"They got a hold of the Parkers' invitations," Dad sighed. "I'll give them credit, it was a good plan."

Mom nodded in agreement. "They really wanted the bracelet."

"Well, we'll get it back before long," Kendall said determinedly. "I'm sure they'll slip up before long."

"Of course. And when they do, we'll be there to catch them," Dad agreed.

There was silence for a few seconds, and then Mom looked at me. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine," I assured her. "I told you, he never had any intention of hurting me, he just wanted to scare us into cooperating."

"Diamonds are so manipulative," Dad growled. "But I bet he would have if it had come to that. You don't mean anything to him, so why would he keep you around if it came between his life and yours?"

"I know," I snapped. "I didn't say I trusted him, I just repeated what he said."

Mom took a deep breath. "It's been a long night. I say we go to bed and try to figure out what to do tomorrow." She steered me out of the ballroom, towards the stairs. "I'm just happy you're all right," she said to me.

"Thanks, me too."

We went upstairs together, and she escorted me to my bedroom. "You should get some sleep," she told me. "Tomorrow your father and brother will be much calmer."

I nodded in agreement. "I'm sure they will be."

"Well, good night, sweetie." She kissed my forehead and gave me a tight hug, before sweeping down the hallway, evening gown swishing around her legs.

I opened my bedroom door and stepped into my room. I flipped on the light and closed the door behind me. I pulled the bobby pins free from my hair, letting the remainder of it tumble down over my shoulders.

I reached behind to unzip my dress. I shimmied out of it and kicked my heels off. I stepped out of my dress and unhooked my strapless bra, sighing in relief as it fell away. I grabbed my nightgown and slipped it over my head.

I wandered, almost aimlessly, into my bathroom, reaching for my brush and beginning to run it through my hair, smoothing out the curls, eyes looking straight at the mirror, but not really seeing my reflection. My mind was going back to James, or, technically, the mysterious man who I had danced and flirted with.

There was just something about him that was tempting. He was like dark chocolate, bitter, but oh so sweet once you got past the dominating flavor. And even behind the mask, his eyes had shone brightly. I had never seen eyes like his. I mean, I had seen hazel eyes, but not like his…The perfect mix of brown and green…And it wasn't fair that his lashes were so long and dark. I mean, I knew girls who would kill to have eyelashes like that. How the hell did a guy get them?! Screw that. How the hell did a guy like _that_ get them?!

So unfair.

I finally set my brush down and busied myself with removing my makeup. The worst part of dressing up was having to take off your makeup, in my opinion at least. I had a tendency to smear my makeup all over my face, which was about as flattering as a clown nose. All I needed was the tiny little car to go with it, and I'd be all set.

With a huff, I threw the q-tip into the trash can, ignoring how stained it was with black eyeliner. What had even been the point of wearing makeup in the first place? The party was a freaking masked ball! No one saw my face until the end, and the lights were dimmed! I could have gotten away with just some mascara and lip gloss.

Un-freaking-believable.

I eventually managed to get the majority of my makeup off, enjoying the feeling of a makeup-free face. I brushed my teeth and headed back into my room, where I turned off my light and crawled into bed. I pulled the covers up over my head, burrowing myself in.

I closed my eyes, resolutely trying to get to sleep, but my brain immediately conjured up an image of James.

Are you kidding me?!

I growled. Fucking James Diamond.

After tossing and turning for almost an hour, I finally forced myself to relax, letting James take over my mind, going into a fantasy, what could have happened if, you know, his dad hadn't run through the ballroom with a bunch of our guards chasing him and the diamond bracelet stuffed in his suit jacket pocket or down his pants or whatever.

I drifted off soon after that, my fantasy turning into a dream.

The next thing I knew, it was morning, and my eyes were opening, my heart racing and my body covered in dry sweat. Pleasant.

With a groan, I forced the covers back and got out of bed, heading back into my bathroom.

Once I had dressed, I went downstairs to the dining room, where my parents and brother were gathered, Dad and Kendall sporting moody looks on their faces.

Mom smiled at me as I came into the room.

"Good morning, sweetie!" she chirped. "How'd you sleep?"

You mean besides having a really – ahem – embarrassing dream about James Diamond, who, by birthright, is our rival?

"Really well," I answered.

"That's good. Well, Mathilda made us pancakes for breakfast."

"Cool. What kind?"

"Chocolate chip," she replied, and I almost started drooling. I _love_ chocolate chip pancakes.

"Sounds amazing," I said as I sat down beside her.

"What're your plans for today?" she asked as Mathilda – our cook – came out to dish me up a stack of pancakes.

"I need to go to the library," I replied, making a face. "I have a paper due next Friday, and I need to do some research for it."

"So just use the internet," Kendall suggested to me.

"I'm going to, but I have to have a bibliography, and it looks good if it seems like I actually tried. So I need at least one book as a resource."

"I don't know why you're insisting on this college thing," Dad spoke up. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm proud of you for continuing with your education, but if you really want to get into this business like you say you do, you don't actually need a college education."

"I know," I shrugged, before dumping syrup over my pancakes and smothering them thickly in butter, "but I want to have that background. Besides, I might learn stuff that'll be important for this business. You never know, right?"

"Very true," he agreed. "And I like your thinking. Nice and open-minded. And it'll help for when and if you and Kendall end up business partners. He goes by his gut feeling, and you go by your brain, both of which are very important."

We both nodded in unison, and I took a bite of my pancakes.

An hour later, I left the house, getting into my car to drive to the library. The roads were pretty empty, and I managed to get to the library within ten minutes. I parked, and headed inside. I quickly found the history section, the area that I needed.

I sighed, realizing just how large a section it really was. I needed something a little more specialized. Sighing again, I headed over to one of the computers and sat down, typing _Revolutionary War_ into the database. I found a bunch of books, jotted down their numbers on a piece of paper, and headed back to that section.

I began searching for the first book at the top of my list. Within seconds, I realized that it was a good foot and a half over my head. Being exactly five feet tall, it wasn't difficult for things to be higher than me, but it never got any less annoying.

"You're shorter than I remember," came a voice from behind me, and I whirled around to find myself face to, well, chest, with none other than James Diamond.

"You're sleazier than I remember," I shot back, and he smirked.

"And how am I sleazy? Do tell."

"You just are," I snapped, and almost blushed. Lame comeback – check.

"Your sass is lacking," he commented.

"I guess that just shows that my hatred for you is showing."

"Ouch." He mock winced. "Sharp, straight to the heart."

"Oh, look, you're not bleeding. I guess that means you're too evil for it, like the demons in _Charmed_."

"So, would that make you Phoebe to my Cole?" he asked me.

I snorted. "No. Phoebe and Cole fell in love. And Cole actually had some _good_ in him. You don't."

"I didn't kill you last night," he pointed out.

"No, but you used me as a hostage against my own family. Remember?"

"Still bitter about that, huh?"

I gave him an angry glare in response.

"Guess so."

"Just leave me alone. I need to find a book for class."

"Well, by all means, don't let me hold you back."

"You're distracting."

"Lame excuse."

I bit back a groan. Why couldn't he just leave me alone? I didn't want to admit that the book was so far up over my head because if I did, he would probably make fun of me.

"What're you looking for?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"None of your business."

"Well, you keep looking up at an area above your head…I could get the book down for you if you want."

"No way – you might try to hold it hostage."

"I promise not to."

I rolled my eyes and instead walked down the aisle. I got a hold of a ladder and pushed it over to where I needed it. James stepped back, looking slightly amused as he leaned against the back bookcase, arms crossed.

I ignored him and mounted the ladder, climbing up the rungs until I was balanced a few feet away from the book. It slid slightly as I climbed; I paused, before continuing on. I reached over towards the book, stretching out. The ladder slid again, and I made a grab for the book. The next thing I knew, the ladder had slipped out from under me and there was a _thud_ as the book fell to the floor. And yet, _I_ wasn't on the ground.

It took me a couple of seconds to realize that I was in James Diamond's arms – he had caught me before I had hit the floor.

Oh…well…okay, then…

I looked at him, my gaze drawn to his face. My arms had wrapped themselves around his neck of their own accord – I had no memory of doing that – and he was holding me bridal style.

He looked back at me, our eyes locking just as they had so many times the night before.

I bit my lip, trying to catch my breath – I was pretty sure he had stolen it just by looking at me. Not because he was so good looking or whatever the hell it was, but because he was a breath stealer. That was the only explanation as to why I was currently having trouble breathing and why my heart was beating erratically. I was sure he could hear my heart pounding, it was so loud. But he didn't comment on it; instead he just continued to look at me.

After several long seconds, he finally lowered me to my feet, and I reached down to pick up the book. After what I had just gone through to get it, it had better have all the information in it that I needed, plus some. And maybe a section on how to get rid of guys who made your heart pound, your throat close up, and your lungs retract, because that was just a huge problem. Under normal circumstances, I would have thought it was attraction, but that wasn't a possible reason. He was James Diamond, the son of my father's mortal enemy. I couldn't be even the slightest attracted to him, never mind the overload-of-sensations kind of attraction.

But no matter how much I tried to figure out a good reason as to why this was happening, I couldn't come up with a good explanation as to why I was really tempted to slam him into the bookcase and have my way with him.

"You okay?" he asked quietly after a few seconds of silence.

"Yeah…thanks. Damn ladder."

"Yeah. Well…see you around, Katie." And before I could say or do anything else, he was gone. What the hell had just happened?!

It took me a few seconds to come out of my James-Diamond-induced stupor and begin looking for the other books. Luckily, none of the others were on any shelves higher than my head, so I quickly rounded them up and took them to one of the free checkout computers. I did what I needed to do with them and slid them into a plastic bag, before carrying them out of the library.

As I walked towards my car, I caught sight of James leaning against a gorgeous black car, arms and ankles crossed. I wondered if he was making sure I was getting out of the library okay, or if he was doing some kind of surveillance work for his dad.

I figured it was probably the latter, and shaking off mild disappointment, I headed to my car and climbed in, throwing the books into the backseat. I started the car and put my seatbelt on, before flipping on the heater and switching on the radio. I pulled out of the parking space and drove through the parking lot. As I glanced up into my rearview mirror, I spotted James' car following me out.

Maybe he was just supposed to tail me? That would explain why he had been at the library, though I had never seen the car before, so maybe not.

I pulled out onto the main road, and the black car – a Dodge, by the looks of the emblem – came out behind me.

James stayed pretty close to me until we reached the upcoming light. I stayed in the right lane, and he switched to the left one. The light turned red and I sighed, coming to a halt. James stopped beside me.

I glanced over at him, taking in his car. It really was pretty nice, and it looked brand spankin' new, like it needed to be broken in.

Even though it was a Saturday, the roads were pretty well cleared, and there weren't any cops in sight. Grinning, I put the car in park and stepped down on the accelerator, gunning the engine. James looked over at me, and a moment later, the passenger side window rolled down. I rolled down my window and grinned even more widely at him.

He eyed me for a long moment, and then gunned his own engine.

Smirking, I rolled my window back up and turned back to the light.

I had done some drag racing in high school, and I won't lie – I was pretty damn good. Granted, I had never raced against a car like James', but that was all technicalities. By rights, I should've been able to beat him with both hands tied behind my back and a blindfold covering my eyes.

The light abruptly turned green, and James and I both took off through the intersection. I pressed the pedal down even harder, pushing my car to go even faster.

We continued speeding down Main Street, neck and neck, fighting for control, fighting for the lead. I pulled ahead of him and cackled in satisfaction. Take that, James Diamond!

I took a curve smoothly and glanced in my rearview mirror, and then in my side mirror. The grin immediately slid off my face as I realized he was steadily catching up. Well, damn. He was making a comeback in a big way.

I pushed my foot harder against the accelerator. "Come on," I mumbled. "Come on, baby. Don't fail me now." The speedometer's needle raised a little and my grin was back.

And then James passed by me.

My mouth fell open and I spewed cuss words as I worked on making the car match his speed, at the very least. But it was no use. My car was falling back while his car was gaining distance.

Fuck him.

At last, we reached the edge of town and stopped right beside the truck stop that was located on the town's borderline. It was the unofficial drag racing finish line. I was pretty sure the owners were used to teenagers speeding into the parking lot to grab some food after an intense drag race, and they were more than happy to oblige.

James pulled into the parking lot first, and I followed, grinding my teeth. Great. Time to face him and listen to him gloat about his win.

We got out of our cars and he walked over to me.

"You gave me a run for my money," he said honestly as he reached me.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Really?"

He nodded. "You're a good racer, I'm impressed."

"Oh…well…thanks."

He nodded again. "With the right car, you'd probably beat me."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"You do that. Thanks for the race."

"You're welcome." I watched as he walked back to his car and climbed in. Running my fingers through my hair, I got back into my car as well and started the engine again.

I drove home, chewing on my lip. Maybe it was bad, but now I was really tempted to ask my dad for a new car. I loved my car, but I'd always wanted something with a little more power. My dad hadn't wanted to get me anything too powerful or fast, because he wanted me to be safe, but that hadn't stopped me from racing in high school. And, even with a car that hadn't had a very powerful engine in it, I had still managed to win the majority of my races. But I hadn't raced in months, which might have been part of the reason why I had lost to James. Or…

Well, there was the possibility that he had drag raced in high school as well, and if that was the case, then he had a good two years experience on me. It would be difficult to catch up with him, and I wasn't sure I wanted to try. Was it even worth it? Probably not. It definitely wasn't important, but it was still something I wanted to try to do.

I pulled into my family's garage and parked, before climbing out of the car. I headed on into the house, closing the adjoining door behind me.

I found Dad in his office, going through paperwork for some of our imports.

"Hey," I greeted him as I walked in.

"Hey," he replied, looking up at me. "Did you get the books you needed?"

I nodded. "As a matter of fact, I did. So…I was wondering…when do you think I could get a more powerful car?"

He blinked at me. "A more powerful car?"

"Yeah. Maybe one with a V-8 engine?"

"Ah, I see. What's wrong with your Toyota?"

"It's just not very powerful or impressive."

"Do you need powerful and impressive?"

"Well, it would be nice," I replied with a shrug. "I mean, I'm your daughter, right? And I'm not exactly intimidating. I need to have something to work to my advantage."

"Use your mean gun aim," he advised me. "That'll definitely work to your advantage."

"But – I mean – wouldn't a car – ?"

He sighed. "I don't know, sweetie. I understand why you want a new car, but the fact is, I'm not sure we can afford it."

I blinked. "What do you mean you're not sure we can afford it?"

"We've lost a lot of money. The economy is slowly draining our funds, and people just aren't buying from us like they used to."

"Do the Diamonds have anything to do with this?"

"Well, partly, but the fact is, black market business in northern Minnesota is slowly going down the drain. I'm sure the Diamonds have been hit as well, though perhaps not as hard as we've been."

"Oh…I see…"

He nodded. "I'd love to get you a new car, but can you see why now might not be the best time for one?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Good. Thank you for understanding, sweetheart."

I nodded. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

He shook his head. "No, nothing. Don't worry about this too much. Hopefully we'll figure something out to keep the money coming in before long."

"Okay. Yeah, I hope so."

"So do I. Why don't you go find your mom? I'm sure she could use some company."

"Yeah, sure." And with that, I headed out of the office, my mind still spinning with what he had just told me.

* * *

_**What'd you guys think? How was it? Feel like giving the review button some love? I've been wanting to put a street race in a story for awhile, so hopefully I did okay with it. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it :)**_


	3. Chapter 3: Dressing Room Meeting

_**Chapter Three of Take the Heat!**_

_**Disclaimer: You think Nickelodeon and Scott Fellows would let me own Big Time Rush when I have this story up? Haha yeah, think again. I don't own BTR.**_

_**Guest - AKA btrfanfiction1516: Thank you so much! You're so sweet, and I'm so happy you think so! I agree, they do. Thank you so much for reviewing, I really appreciate it :)**_

_**THANK YOU to everyone who has already read, reviewed, favorited, or followed this story! You're all so amazing, and you keep me writing :)**_

_**Warnings: Innuendos and language.**_

_**Enjoy the chapter! (By the way, am I the only one who thinks it's ironic that I put "enjoy the chapter" right under "warnings"?)**_

* * *

**Chapter Three: Dressing Room Meeting**

**Katie's POV**

I looked through the first floor of the house, before making my way up the stairs. I found Mom in her and Dad's bedroom, looking through an online fashion catalog.

"Hey," I greeted her as I walked into the room. "What're you up to?"

"Looking at dresses for the Cherry Lake Hospital charity banquet," she told me. "It's being held at the Cherry Tree Hotel next week."

"Okay," I said. "Right, you mentioned that a couple days ago."

She nodded. "You need a dress too. Come on, let's see if we can find one for you. I'm on the Cherry Boutique's webpage, looking through the dresses."

"So…formal ones?"

"Yeah, but not cocktail ones, exactly. I think a little more conservative."

"Okay." I grabbed her boudoir chair and pulled it up beside her to look through the dresses she had up. We spent the next hour picking out our favorites, and decided that the next day we would go down to the boutique and see if we could find them in our sizes.

At dinner that night, Mom reminded Dad and Kendall of the banquet.

"Oh no…do I have to wear another suit?" Kendall asked Mom, looking a little worried.

"Yes, as a matter of fact you do."

"Well, damn." He sighed as he cut into his chicken. "Is it just going to be dinner?"

Mom nodded. "I believe so. Well, we'll also have to donate money to the hospital – that's why they're having the banquet in the first place."

"Okay."

"Do you know who else is going to be there?" Dad asked Mom.

"No idea. The Mitchells, I'm sure."

"The Diamonds and the Garcias? And the Stetsons?" he added as an afterthought.

"Quite possibly…"

Dad swore.

Mom shook her head. "I can't control who's going to be there, Kevin. If they show up, then you'll just have to grit your teeth and cope. You can't let them affect where you go."

"I know that."

"Good. Then quit grimacing and eat your food."

"I'm not hungry anymore."

Mom rolled her eyes. "Eat your food and stop acting like a child. You and Jeff Diamond live in the same town, and you'd better learn to live with it. You don't have to like each other, and when it involves our families, then by all means, do what you need to do, but this is for charity. I think you two can put your differences aside for one night."

"His son held a gun to our daughter's head!"

"I didn't say his family was perfect."

I shook my head and kept my eyes on my food. I hadn't told them about my run-in with James in the library or that I had street raced him. If Dad was reacting like this over a charity event, I could just imagine his reaction if he found out that James had touched me and we had had a long moment.

Dad didn't say anything to Mom's statement; instead, he just forked some green beans into his mouth. "As long as they don't stir up any trouble there, I won't either."

"Good. That's all I ask."

"Uh huh…"

I finished my food soon after and headed back up to my room. I found myself wandering out through the double doors and onto my balcony, breathing in the mid autumn air. I braced my hands on the balcony railings, looking out onto the street, past the maple tree that never seemed to get trimmed. I closed my eyes as I listened to the traffic in the distance. It was peaceful out here, quite possibly my favorite place in the world. A light breeze began to pick up, brushing over my hair and lightly nipping at my clothes and skin.

It was a good fifteen minutes before I went back into my room. I closed the French doors and locked them up, before plopping down on my bed with my laptop. Curiosity about James was beginning to get the better of me, and I couldn't resist the urge to see what I could find about him.

I got into my internet browser, and then into my favorite search engine. I paused, fingers hovering over the keys as I steeled myself. I chewed down on my lip, telling myself that it wasn't too late to turn back, that I could still exit out of the browser, that if I didn't want to, I never had to think about this ever again.

But it occurred to me that James Diamond was supposed to be my enemy after all. Wouldn't it be good to find out as much about him as I possibly could? I could use the information to my advantage, after all. I could take him down like the sole of a shoe taking out a spider. No problemo. The more I knew about him, the more weapons I had in my arsenal. Like Harry Potter when it came to Voldemort. Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. Eragon and King Galbatorix.

The only problem was that it was a little tricky to pinpoint just which one of us was supposed to be the bad guy, and which one of us was supposed to win the battle in the end.

Before I could change my mind, I typed _James Diamond_ into the search bar and hit the enter button. A moment later, the first page of results popped up and I began to scroll through them.

I wasn't sure what exactly I had expected to find, but this wasn't it. James had a Facebook page, and I clicked on it curiously. I couldn't get into it since it was as secured as it could be without it making Fort Knox look bad, but I did get a short list of his friends – the one with open pages. I clicked on one of his friends' pages and immediately was drawn to the pictures. He had a bunch of him and with his two million friends. And in quite a few of those pictures was James Diamond.

There were pictures of James snowboarding; pictures of him next to various cars; pictures of him holding a beer and hanging out with a group of friends; and pictures of him with different girls, depending on the year.

My stomach clenched uncomfortably at those particular photographs, and I swallowed. This felt too much like jealousy, and I wasn't supposed to be jealous simply because James had had girlfriends. I had seen on his page that he was single, so it wasn't like he was dating anyone right now. Besides, I'd had a couple of non-serious boyfriends in my last year of high school, so it wasn't like I had a right to be envious anyway. And – oh yeah – we weren't even close to being together. We hated each other. Our families were enemies. Even if we did like each other, we couldn't be together.

And that was that.

Nevertheless, I found myself continuing the search for information on James. I discovered he had gone to a private school on his side of town. He had a brother named Shane who was about my age (I had heard him mentioned, but I knew he more or less kept out of the business). James' birthday was July 16th. He was twenty years old. He had his Associate's Art degree from Cherry Lake College. He played the guitar and piano, and sang (I growled – I had a serious weakness for musicians). He had taken dance lessons through his school years, though there was no sign that he had continued them into college. He had a black belt in some martial art that I couldn't pronounce. He had had a 3.5 GPA in high school (fine, I might have hacked into a few websites to get some of my information), he had modeled for his mother's cosmetics and clothing line in the past; he was 6'1 with hazel eyes, and from a picture of him where he was modeling jeans and nothing else, he was _very_ well built.

I couldn't help it. I was beginning to drool. It was so unfair that a guy who was supposed to be my mortal enemy could be good looking, be a musician and singer, and have a body like _that_. Was the universe purposefully out to get me, or had it just left everything up to coincidence?

After staring for a good five minutes at his naked upper body, I finally got out of Brooke Diamond's website and sighed. I wasn't sure I could take finding out anything else about him. My hormones were already going nuts, and I was beginning to think that maybe I should look into buying a vibrator, since I wasn't going to be getting James' fingers, mouth, or dick anytime ever.

With a whimper, I clicked out of my browser and set my laptop down on the floor. I just wanted to get past this stupid…whatever-the-hell it was…as quickly and painlessly as possible.

I should've known that it would never be that easy. I wasn't that lucky.

The next two days passed by slowly. I read up on the Revolutionary War and got to work on my paper for it.

On Tuesday morning at breakfast, my mom announced that she was going to take me dress shopping once I got out of class.

"All right," Dad agreed as he took a sip of coffee. "Just be careful. The Diamonds might be sniffing around. They're like hound dogs. Once they pick up a scent, they'll follow it until they rip their prey to pieces."

That sounded pleasant.

I got through my classes without too much trouble, and my mom and I took off for Rose Avenue, AKA the street with designer boutiques piling on top of each other.

Mom parked in a nearby parking garage, and we walked over to La Belle boutique. It outfitted both men and women, and was known for having the best selection of dresses and suits in all of Cherry Lake.

A French pop song was playing as we stepped into the shop, and we were immediately ambushed by an overly perfumed saleswoman, who dragged us over to the dresses once we told her just what we were looking for. We began to comb through the dresses, trying to find nice ones in our sizes.

"What about this one?" I asked my mom, holding up a navy blue one.

She shook her head. "Doesn't suit you. It's a little too square. What do you think of this?" She held up a flashy silver dress, and I snorted.

"Nah uh, never."

"Well, damn."

I laughed and moved onto another rack of dresses, just as the boutique's door swung open. I glanced towards the door, and immediately began cussing under my breath. Oh, hell no.

James Diamond had just walked in with a teenage boy who looked quite a bit like him, and a beautiful young woman about his age. I was pretty sure that the boy was James' younger brother, Shane. I had no idea who the girl was, but she looked like she could have been a possible girlfriend. She was beyond gorgeous with fair skin, a long mane of wild, dark red curls, laughing blue eyes, and a body like Jennifer Lawrence's.

Well, damn. I was slender and had some curves, but nothing like this girl did.

So unfair.

Mom, obviously noticing that my attention wasn't on dresses, looked over to where my gaze was drawn. She raised an eyebrow, before saying quietly to me, "Just ignore them. They're probably here for the same reason we are."

"I seriously doubt James and his brother are here to find dresses and high heels," I replied.

"I meant to find clothes for the charity dinner."

"Right…" I turned my attention back to the rack of dresses, trying to ignore the Diamond boys and the redheaded girl. It wasn't easy, though, when they drew nearer, chatting away like the best of friends.

"I hate going to formal dinners," I heard Shane say glumly. "Everyone's always trying to act all smart and haughty and it's so annoying."

"And they'll break out languages like French and Latin right in the middle of a conversation," James laughed. "They sound like they're misquoting _Harry Potter_."

"I can't believe Jess and I let you two dumbasses talk us into going," the girl said to the boys. "This is going to be so boring! You two owe us big time for this."

"Sure, Chels, whatever you say, Chels," James replied, still laughing. "Oh, what do you think of this?" he reached for a pinstripe suit.

"Very Al Capone," she said. "Not very James Diamond. If I were you, I'd go with something a little more James Bond-ish, know what I mean? Here." She pulled out a black suit and held it up. "Perfect. Same goes for you, Shane."

"Oh yeah, 007!" Shane cheered.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you get that coffee," James grinned.

Shane responded by flipping his brother his middle finger.

"Rude!" James told him, and ducked when Shane took a swing at his head. Laughing, he crawled away, heading in my general direction.

Uh oh. Time to skip town.

Before I could get out of dodge, however, one of my bracelets caught on a hanger, and the hanging dress fell to the floor. I groaned and bent down to pick it up – and found myself face to face with James.

Another groan.

James blinked at me. "What're you doing here?"

"The same thing you are," I replied, smoothing out the dress.

"You going to try that on?" he asked me, nodding to it.

I eyed it. It was maroon, with short capped sleeves. Not my usual style, but it was definitely nice.

James grabbed the material and held it against my skin, and then up to my hair. "Yeah, you'd definitely look good in it."

"Okay, will you stop being nice to me?" I cried in exasperation. "You held a gun to my head! You're supposed to hate me."

"The gun wasn't loaded," he replied. "And do you really want me to draw my gun on you now, when we're in public?"

"Well…no…not really…"

"Good. Then quit complaining."

"Who's your friend?"

"You mean Shane? My brother?"

"No, the girl."

He grinned, eyes glittering. "Why? You jealous?"

Hah! As if! Me, jealous? Whaaat? No way. I was so not jealous. In fact, I was so not jealous, that I was the opposite of jealous. Definitely not jealous. Not in the least.

I snorted. "Dream on."

His grin widened. "Well, in case you're interested, she's bi."

I dry choked. "Excuse me?!"

"What? You have something against the LGBT community?"

I glared at him. "That's not what I meant." I snatched the dress out of his grip. "I have nothing against them."

"Well, that's good to know."

"But I'm not bi."

"She'll be so disappointed."

I flipped him off in retaliation.

"Such foul language," he smirked. "I'm surprised your daddy lets you go out into public, waving your fingers around like that."

Okay, I was going to slap him soon.

It was really too bad that after slapping him, I really wanted to kiss him. And then do unmentionable things to him.

"Anyway," James continued, "her name's Chelsea, and she's one of my best friends. And no, we're not together."

"I didn't ask that."

"Yeah," he grinned, "but you wanted to know."

I growled and got to my feet. "I'm going to go try this on. _Don't_ follow me."

"Like I would ever."

Fucker.

Shaking my head and mumbling about all the things I planned on doing to him – and not the fun things – I headed into one of the dressing rooms and closed the door. I stripped down and slipped the dress over my head. I zipped it up and looked in the mirror. Oh, wow…holy crap…It looked _amazing_ on me. All I needed was a pair of black high heels and I would be good to go.

Damn James. He had good fashion sense.

Grumbling again, I reached behind me to unzip my dress. Before my fingers could grasp the zipper, however, the dressing room door swung open and James walked in like he owned the freaking place.

"Uh, hello, this dressing room's occupied!" I cried, glaring at him ferociously.

"Is it? That's funny. The door wasn't locked."

Shit. I had been so busy cussing him out in my mind that I had completely blanked on locking the door. Just my luck. The one time I forget to lock the door, someone comes walking in.

Before I could open my mouth to retort, he locked the door and turned to face me. "I was right, that dress does look good on you."

I scowled. I really hated that he was right.

"Anyway…gonna take your dress off?"

"_What_?!"

"To change back into your clothes, duh. There's two people in here, and I need some room." He held up the suit Chelsea had picked out for him.

My mouth went very dry all of a sudden. He was going to try on the suit with me in here…

My cheeks began heating up at the thought of him half naked, and I did my best not to swallow hard. At last, I managed to say, "If you strip in front of me, you're going to get a knife to your throat."

He grinned. "I should've known you'd like it rough."

"Ughh…you're such an ass," I groaned, turning around to face the mirror once more.

"I've heard that one before," he said, coming to stand behind me. "Want some help with your dress?"

Yes!

No!

Maybe…

I wordlessly nodded, and his fingers grasped the zipper, slowly pulling it down the track. Our eyes locked in the mirror, and I found myself fighting for breath.

It was officially unfair that he could have this kind of effect on me. It shouldn't have been allowed. It should have been punishable. And if I had my way, I would be punishing him by having my wicked way with him. Which was maybe not a punishment by most legal point of views…

His fingers brushed over my bare back, thumbing over my bra's hook, finally coming to rest at my lower back once the zipper was all the way down. His fingers were hot and rough but I felt a shiver go through my body at the feeling of them on my skin.

Fine. So my body liked him.

That didn't mean my brain had to.

Hey, any bit of dignity I could hold onto, I was going to. Especially when all I wanted to do was turn around and kiss him and push him down onto the bench and…oomph.

The fact that that actually sounded like a good idea scared me almost more than the way my body was reacting to his touch, or the fact that his hand was still on my lower back. We were still holding each other's gaze, and I was pretty sure neither of us had blinked since he had reached for the dress's zipper.

And then one of the dressing room downs down the strip slammed shut, and we were jolted back to reality. Stupid reality.

James took his hand away from my back, and instead began to unbutton his shirt, turning away from me.

Almost wanting to cry in disappointment and desperation, I slid my dress off and reached for my jeans and shirt, pulling them both on.

I was really hating reality right then.

And I hated it even more as James' shirt fell from his shoulders. I tried my hardest not to stare, I swear I did, but I couldn't help it. He was just too…_oomph_ worked there too.

"Um…I'm just going to go," I mumbled, reaching for the doorknob.

"Wait a sec?" he asked, unbuttoning his jeans.

"Um…sure…"

I gulped as he pushed his jeans down and stepped out of them, before reaching for the slacks. Once he had them on, he nodded at me, dark eyes unreadable as they searched over my face.

I fumbled with the doorknob and got the door open, before closing it. I let out a shuddering gasp, my brain trying desperately to process what the hell had just happened in there. That had not been normal behavior for two enemies. Not in the least.

* * *

**James' POV**

You could ask me all you want what I had been thinking when I had walked into Katie's dressing room and proceeded to unzip her dress for her. You still wouldn't get an actual answer from me. The reason? I don't know what I was thinking. Not in the least.

She had been on my mind since the night of her family's masquerade. And our run-in at the library, and then the race, hadn't done anything to take my mind off of her. She'd had the starring roles in my dreams for the past four nights, and I was going crazy. As much as I hated to admit it, we had intense chemistry, and that wasn't going to go away just because our families hated each other.

I wasn't sure about her, but I knew that my mind seemed to shut off when I was around her. And considering the fact that she hadn't stopped me when I had gone for the dress zipper, she experienced the exact same thing. We were so fucking screwed.

I buttoned the suit's shirt up and grabbed the jacket, pulling it on. Not bad…not bad at all…

I grinned slightly and changed back into my normal clothes, before hanging the suit back up and opening the door.

Katie was sitting on the waiting bench a little ways down the strip, fingers flying across the keypad of her phone. She glanced up at me when I stepped out of the dressing room, before looking away. "I'm waiting for my mom," she told me. "And I think your brother and friend are in a couple of the other rooms."

"Okay." I glanced out into the main part of the store and sure enough, I didn't see Shane or Chels anywhere. So I reluctantly took a seat beside Katie, making sure to keep some distance between us. We were both still acutely aware of what had gone down and almost taken place in the dressing room, and you could have cut the tension between us with a knife. Possibly a sword.

After several seconds of the most uncomfortable, painful, itchy, poison-ivy-like silence, Katie glanced over at me. "Are you looking forward to the charity dinner?"

"Not really. Are you?"

"No. Those dinners are never any fun. Everyone's always trying to act all impressive, and no one acts like themselves. It really kind of sucks."

I nodded in agreement. "It really does. I can't wait for it to be over."

"Agreed." She groaned. "And our dads are going to be shooting death glares at each other the entire night, I just know it. My dad's pretty pissed off that you and your dad broke into our house and crashed the party."

"Technically we didn't break in –we just walked right in."

"And then there's the part where you held a gun to my head and your dad stole the bracelet."

"You mean, re-stole the bracelet. Because that bracelet passes between our families more times than a ping-pong ball does at a national tournament."

She bit her lip, looking like she was debating whether or not to give me that particular argument. After a few seconds of apparent inner turmoil, she nodded slowly. "Yeah, fine. You're right."

I nodded too, just as, one by one, Mrs. Knight, Shane, and Chelsea emerged from their different dressing rooms. There was a moment of mind-numbing silence, and then we separated, filing out of the store, keeping at least a good ten feet between us Diamonds and Friends, and the two Knight women.

We split up at the door, but I couldn't help but look back over my shoulder at Katie. She glanced back at me, and our eyes locked.

Yeah, this was definitely an attraction that we weren't going to be able to fight. It was definitely going to be a losing battle whether we liked it or not.

* * *

_**What'd you guys think of the chapter? I know right now it's pretty much just focusing on them and the tension and chemistry, and the story isn't doing a lot, but it's building the foundation right now. It's just the basis, it'll get a little more interesting before long. Anyway, let me know what you guys think? I'd love to hear your opinions! Oh, and a shout out to two writers who I know have mentioned me in their stories: Dawnindanite, and unpublishedWRITTER. Both are amazing writers, and if you haven't, you should totally go and check out their stories!**_


	4. Chapter 4: Meetings and Memories

_**Disclaimer: I definitely don't own Big Time Rush. If I did, I probably wouldn't be writing a disclaimer.**_

_**Guest: The dressing room incident? Thank you, I'm glad you liked it :) And thank you so much for reviewing!**_

_**Guest#2 (btrfanfiction1516): So...you liked the dressing room incident? Enjoy the tension? ;) Thank you very much for reviewing!**_

_**THANK YOU to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, or followed this story so far! I get all happy when I get the alerts and reviews, so thank you :) Oh, and if anyone wants to see James' and Katie's outfits, just PM me and I'll give you the link to my Polyvore account.**_

_**Warnings: Innuendos, mentions of violence, language, and tension.**_

_**Enjoy the chapter!**_

* * *

**Chapter Four: Meetings and Memories**

**James' POV**

"So, that was Katie Knight, huh?" Shane said to me as we headed towards our car.

I glanced over at him. "Yeah, that was her."

"What's going on between you two?" Chelsea asked, walking around to my other side so that I was closed in between her and Shane. "I mean, you two obviously want to fuck each other. And you walked right into her dressing room, I saw you. Hey, you didn't – nah, I guess not. There was too much sexual tension between you two when Shane and I came out."

Shane shook his head. "Sexual tension with a Knight. Aye yi yi, what is this world coming to?"

I didn't say anything. It was pointless to deny that Katie and I had sexual tension when it was so palpable. If Shane and Chelsea could feel it, then it had to have been pretty strong.

"So what if it's with a Knight?" Chelsea argued, pulling her hair up into a ponytail. "You can't just decide who you're attracted to. There's this little thing called biology that holds a few factors in the process."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, who's the best mate, the best hunter, the best gatherer, whatever," Shane snorted. "All I know is that this better not get back to Mom and Dad, because they'll both have heart attacks if they hear about it. The Knights are our family enemies. We don't like them, and they don't like us. And that's the way things are supposed to work out. Although…what's a little lust between enemies, eh?"

"If they like each other, then we should be supportive. You're his brother and I'm his friend. And Jessica will be supportive of them too. This whole war between the Diamonds and Knights is stupid."

Shane and I both came to a screeching halt.

"Stupid?" I cried. "_Stupid_?! It's not _stupid_!"

"Uh, yeah it is. It's over something that happened almost a hundred years ago. So your ancestors killed each other. So what? They're dead, and you're alive, and hating the Knights isn't going to change what happened."

"But it'll make us feel better," Shane pointed out, and I nodded in agreement.

She rolled her eyes. "I know my parents and I work for your family, but I've always thought this war or feud or whatever the hell it is, is stupid. And everyone acts like children when it comes to it. And really, who actually knows what happened that day back in _1920_-_whatever_, when they killed each other? Maybe it was a double suicide. Maybe it was all a setup. No one knows, because no one else was there. All you guys have to go on is a lot of circumstantial evidence. Whatever happened was clearly between them. Maybe it was a love affair gone bad. I mean, the possibilities are endless. And the fact that you guys are still fighting over something that really doesn't have anything to do with you is just plain stupid."

Shane and I rolled our eyes at her, and continued on towards our car, with her following behind us, shaking her head.

We reached my car and climbed in, Shane sliding into the front passenger's seat, and Chelsea sprawling out in the back.

"So," Shane asked as me as we buckled up and I started the car, "what did happen in the dressing room?"

"It's not important."

"Uh, apparently it is. Did you kiss?"

"No, we didn't kiss."

"Oh. Did you walk in on her naked?"

"No…"

"But there was nudity involved?"

"Partially…"

"Dude! Spill!"

I shook my head. "I don't want it getting back to Mom and Dad, or the Knights. What happened in there is between Katie and me, no one else. Got it?"

"Fine."

"Fine." I pulled out of the parking spot and headed towards our house. I parked in the garage and we all trooped in. Mom was sitting in the living room, working on designs for her new line of clothes. She looked up as we walked in.

"Did you find clothes for the charity dinner?" she asked us.

We all nodded, and she smiled. "Good. Oh, James, I was wondering if you'd like to make a little extra money."

"You need me to model again?"

"Please?"

"Sure. When?"

"Next Saturday. We're going to try to do the shoot in the park, try for the natural setting."

"Okay." I nodded. "Sounds good."

She smiled at me, before looking at Shane and Chelsea. "And Chels, I'm going to need you to model for me in a few days."

"No prob, Mrs. D," she chirped.

"Thanks. You'll be stuck in the studio, though."

"Well, damn."

Mom looked at Shane. "How about you? Wanna model for me?"

He snorted. "No thanks. I'd rather try to come up with a cure for cancer. You know modeling's not my thing."

"In that case, you can be my errand boy," Chels said brightly. "You can fetch me sparkling water and fan me with a huge feather."

Shane snorted. "In your dreams."

"Every night."

I shook my head, before heading for the stairs. I was waiting for the day when those two finally admitted to being hopelessly in love with each other. But they were too busy with their Castle/Beckett routine, pre-season five.

"Jamie!"

I spun around and grinned when I saw Jessica Ponders poking her head out of my dad's office. I walked over to her and gave her a quick hug. "What're you up to?"

"Oh, your dad asked me to file some paperwork for him." She tossed her long, brown hair over her shoulder and opened the door wider so that I could come in. "So, why did Chels text me that you and Katie Knight almost banged in the dressing room at _La Belle_?"

"Probably because we almost did…"

She closed the door with a snap and turned to face me. "Sounds juicy."

"You have no idea."

"You like her?"

"I – I don't really know her."

"But you're attracted to her," she prodded.

"But I shouldn't be. She's Kevin Knight's daughter."

"And you're Jeff Diamond's son. Does she like you back?"

"I – I think so…"

"Well, if you two do end up together, Chels and I will be here to support you no matter what," she promised.

I smiled at her. "Thanks. But I doubt we'll end up together."

She smirked. "That doesn't sound like the James Diamond I know. The James Diamond I know would drag her into an empty room at the Cherry Tree hotel and have his way with her."

"I almost did in the dressing room," I pointed out.

"But you didn't."

"No."

She tsked. "You're losing your touch, James. You want her, you need to go after her, and screw what your dad thinks. Your dad loves you, so he'll support you."

"You know, you're acting like I'm going to marry her or something."

"Hey, I'm sure sleeping with the enemy's daughter will get back to your dad somehow. But he'll understand. I'm sure he knows what it's like to have insane sexual chemistry with someone."

"I guess…"

"He's, like, forty. I'm sure he does."

I laughed. "Thanks, Jess."

She grinned. "You're welcome."

* * *

**Katie's POV**

As we pulled up in front of the house, my mom groaned. "Oh no…"

"What? Oh…" I swallowed hard. There was a long black Lincoln town car parked in front of our house. That could only mean one thing: My uncle was here.

"Well, damn. And I was having a good day too," Mom grumbled. "Well, let's go in and see if he has any insane ideas on how to conduct the family business."

I pressed my lips together grimly and followed Mom out of the car.

Uncle Felix is Dad's older brother, and pretty much everyone on my dad's side considers him to be the patriarch of the family, the head of the household if you will. What he says, goes. That's something that my mom, my brother, and I can't stand. Felix Knight is stuck in the old ways, the way they did it sixty years ago, even though he's only about fifty. Granted, that might have something to do with the fact that my grandparents were pretty old fashioned, but my dad grew out of the old fashioned-ness. Felix never did. He's always coming up with these grand ideas that involve marrying Kendall or me off to people with a lot of money. Not very twenty-first century, but there you go. That should give you an idea of where his head is.

Did I mention he's also kind of…mean? Yeah. He's got one hell of a temper, and every time he comes to stay with us, we always end up having to replace some of our most valuable (and breakable) items. And then there's the fact that he has the cold ability to look a man straight in the eyes, smile, and then stab him in the stomach. I've seen him do it, we all have. And it's not something you ever forget.

Mom and I walked cautiously into the house. I don't know about her, but I was half expecting to hear Uncle Felix yelling and the sound of Mom's good china hitting the kitchen floor.

However, all there was were low murmurs coming from the living room. Mom and I hesitantly headed in that direction and walked into said room with our shopping bags. Dad and Kendall were sitting on the couch, and across the room, in the overstuffed armchair, smoking a pipe, was Felix Knight. He was about six feet tall and lanky, built just like Dad and Kendall, though unlike them, he had dark hair and his eyes were such a dark green that in some lights they flashed black. He was dressed in a simple, but obviously designer, business suit, and one leg was propped on the other. Perched on his head was a bowler hat, and I gritted my teeth. It was a sign of his refusal to acknowledge that this was our house, not his, with which he had refused to remove his hat.

Rude.

Everyone looked up when Mom and I entered the room, and Felix's eyes narrowed in on us. "Hello, Jennifer," he greeted her with a nod. "Katherine. What the hell are you wearing?"

"They're called clothes," I responded.

"Not the kind of clothes a Knight wears."

"Are we talking about past Knights, or twenty-first century Knights?"

His eyes flashed, and he turned to Dad. "Tell your daughter to keep her mouth shut. No one likes a little girl with a sharp tongue."

_Little girl_…?!

The thing about Felix is that he scares everyone. He scares Dad into submission, Mom into silence, Kendall into anger, and me into rebellion. I could already see Dad slinking down on the couch, Mom freezing up, and Kendall's fists clenching. The atmosphere was tense, and the silence was so shrill that I could almost hear the front picture window shattering.

And then Dad said, almost apologetically to me, "Katie, don't sass your uncle. Although," he added to Felix, "it's not actually any of your business how Katie dresses. She's an eighteen year old girl, and in my opinion, dresses much more wholesomely than many girls her age."

Felix took his pipe out of his mouth and laid it on the table. I could see smoke still issuing from it.

"_Katherine_ is a Knight. And she will dress like one."

I snorted. Yeah, right, I'd like to see him make me.

He turned to look at me. "You think you'll get away with disobeying me?"

"You're not my father, and I'm a legal adult. So keep your opinions about my clothes to myself. I don't complain about how you dress, or about that pipe or the cigarettes you're constantly smoking."

Partly because I was kinda hoping he would get lung cancer, but that was beside the point.

Felix slowly got to his feet with purposeful deliberation. He was doing this all for show, to prove that he could make the little rebel girl kneel at his feet. I was hoping he'd cross the line, so that I had a good reason to spit in his face.

"Either you dress how I say you dress, or I will have two of my men take you down into the basement, and give you a suitable punishment."

I laughed. "What're you going to do, chain me up?"

"I'll have them show you what happens to girls who dress like you do."

A chill crossed the room as everyone took in his threat. I wasn't positive, but I had a feeling my uncle might have just threatened me…And I wasn't sure I wanted to know just what exactly that threat was.

Which was really nothing new. He'd threatened Kendall with pretty bad stuff before, but nothing had ever happened. I was pretty sure family ties counted for something with him, and he just liked to make empty threats to scare us into obeying his every wish. Nevertheless, I kind of didn't want to risk the possibility.

Kendall got to his feet. "As Dad said, it's not for you to decide how we dress. And she's an adult. You're not at liberty to punish her."

"I'm the head of this family, and the one who runs this business. I'll do as I please, and if any of you try to stand in my way, you'll take a bullet to the head."

Maybe family ties actually don't matter to him…

Mom finally defrosted. "I'll take Katie and Kendall upstairs," she said quickly. "Come on, you two." She grabbed our hands and tugged us up the stairs to her room. She locked the door and turned to us. "Please don't test him," she pleaded with us. "He's evil, he's corrupt, and he doesn't give a damn who he hurts or kills. I don't want to risk either of you getting hurt. So please behave yourselves while he's here."

I looked at Kendall. "How long is he going to be here? I didn't even know he was going to show up."

"None of us did," he said grimly. "And he said he would be here as long as it took to get our business back on its feet."

"So anywhere from a week to a year."

"Pretty much."

"Shit." I sank down onto the bed. "Most people have uncles that give them money. We have an uncle who threatens to have us…I don't even know…and killed. Are you sure it's too late to buy off the cops?" I asked Mom. "We could have him arrested."

"The cops want nothing to do with us," she reminded me. "And I'm not sure they'd go after your uncle anyway. They're all terrified of him."

"Well, duh. The guy is Hitler reincarnated. Maybe we should just shoot him in the back."

"I like that idea," Kendall nodded enthusiastically. "Then we'd be rid of him once and for all."

"We're not killing your uncle!" Mom said exasperatedly. We had this conversation every single time Felix came to stay with us, so she was used to arguing with us about this. "Killing is wrong!"

"Well, I'd rather be alive and in one piece with a dead uncle, then have a live one and be dead."

Kendall nodded in agreement. "Sounds good to me."

"Felix has more men loyal to him then your father does. If we kill him, they'll turn on us, and then we'll be dead as well."

"So either way, we can't win," I sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"Well, guess I better go pick out my dinner dress."

The charity dinner was held on Friday evening at the Cherry Tree hotel, essentially Cherry Lake's Hotel Plaza if you will. The event room, where the dinner was being held, opened up at seven PM on the dot. Mom, Dad, Kendall, Uncle Felix (ew), and I arrived at about 7:05. We walked through the double doors to the event room and were immediately greeted by the event planner, who thanked us for our contribution and pointed us in the direction of our table.

We sat down around our table and Mom smiled. "This is nice." She examined the bouquet of flowers that had been placed as a centerpiece.

Uncle Felix sniffed disapprovingly. "It's tacky. Second rate."

"This isn't the upper east side," Dad informed him through gritted teeth. "Here, we make do with what we can."

"Fucking Midwest," Felix grumbled. "Fucking middle of nowhere."

"Fucking prick," I mumbled under my breath.

Kendall must have heard me, because he smirked slightly and high fived me under the table.

"Oh great," Dad suddenly muttered venomously, "if it isn't Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dumb, and Tweedle Dumbass, and the mother of Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumbass."

I turned around in my chair to see just who he was talking about. Not much to my surprise, I saw the Diamonds – all four of them – making a beeline for a table on the other side of the room from us. I guess the event planners didn't want to risk someone getting shot or knifed or killed or anything traumatic like that.

I couldn't help it – I followed James with my eyes. As if sensing this, he turned his head and our eyes met. He held my gaze for a good five seconds, before looking away. He sat down between his father and brother, and a couple minutes later, the Diamonds were joined by Chelsea, and a slim brunette.

I bit my lip as I watched the girls get settled, noticing how Chelsea sat between James and Shane, and the brunette plopped down on James' other side. She said something and James grinned, throwing his head back in a laugh. Even from across the room I could see the way his eyes lit up at whatever the girl said, his cheeks flushed red with laughter.

I mentally groaned. Great. I might as well have written a poem about James Diamond. I was so pathetic. But there was just something about him that kept drawing me in…I wondered what the chances were that it was the element of danger, forbidden attraction. It was possible, but there had been that spark, that fire, that _heat_, when we had first met. We hadn't even seen each other's faces, but the chemistry had still been there. And I couldn't even begin to deny that, as much as I wanted to. It was there, and there was nothing either of us could do about it.

"What're you looking at?" Felix barked at me, and I jumped slightly.

"What?"

"What're you looking at?" he followed my line of vision, and his face pinched in disapproval. "Kevin, I think your daughter fancies James Diamond."

"I – I – I do not!" I cried, doing my very best to sound outraged. "Gross! He held a gun to my head!"

Felix slipped his ever-present pipe into his mouth. "So? Guess you're a bit of a masochist."

"I don't like James Diamond," I said firmly. "I was spacing out when I was looking over there."

"You better have been," he replied around his pipe, sounding even more menacing than normal. "Knights don't drool over Diamonds."

Did it _look_ like I was drooling? Did it _look_ like I was enjoying myself when I was watching him?

I glared at him and instead took a sip of water. Nosy prick. Nosy, controlling, Nazi prick.

A moment later, a waitress approached us with a bread basket and an armful of menus. She set the bread basket on the table and handed each of us a menu, before asking if there was anything besides water that we'd like to drink.

Felix immediately ordered a gin and tonic, and my parents both ordered glasses of wine. Kendall and I were both still underage, so we just went with strawberry lemonades.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a waiter at the Diamonds' table. It looked like he was asking them the same thing.

Our waitress bustled away to get our drinks, and we all turned to look at our menus.

At the next table, I could hear some guy with a _very_ fake British accent doing his very best to speak Latin. I snorted. There was always at least one uppity phony at these dinners. I had been going to charity dinners for as long as I could remember. It was a side effect of having a rich father who supplied half the town's booze, cigarettes, weapons, and food. You ended up being all gussied up in pink and purple velvet party dresses and hauled off to expensive hotels and mansions, and then were expected to sit quietly and politely through boring food and boring conversations, with nothing to do except giggle with your big brother over all the ridiculous looking people that were there.

Ah, memories.

I could remember one particular time, when we had been invited to a Christmas party at a friend's place. The friend was neutral, meaning that he was pretty good friends with the Diamonds as well, and I could still remember the look on Dad's face when he saw Jeff and Brooke Diamond walk in through the door. I was about four or five at the time, and I got really excited when I realized there were two other kids, little boys, at the party besides me and my brother. We had had one huge epic game of four person hide and seek, and I remembered the taller and older of the two boys pulling me into a curtained alcove behind a statue of Adonis. The boy had flashed a grin at me and assured me that my brother wasn't going to find us here, because he was the best hide and seek player ever. I had fluttered my eyelashes – something I had seen my mother do at my dad when she was complimenting him – and told him that "that's so kewl!" His grin had widened proudly, and then he'd said how pretty I was. I had blushed like crazy and had twisted from side to side, half embarrassed, half pretty damn proud.

It was amazing that thirteen years or so later, I was just now remembering that. And what was flashing through my mind now was the little boy's eyes: Large and dark and beautiful, with long, thick lashes.

Eventually our parents had discovered that us four kids had gone missing, and had come searching for us. Imagine their shock when they discovered me in the kitchen with James while we were stealing some of the extra food for the party. We had been dragged right out of the kitchen and were separated right after that. The second my dad found Kendall, we had left the party, and we were told to _never_ go near those boys again, that their family hated ours, and they were dangerous.

And we never had. In fact, we hadn't even seen James and Shane at all until recently. Well, no, I had seen them, on the street occasionally when I was out with my friends, but I hadn't known who they were. They had just been good looking guys who I wouldn't have minded getting to know. And now I did know them…

The waitress returned with our drinks, setting each one in front of the respective person, before taking our orders and heading back off. I took a sip of my lemonade, closing my eyes as I zoned in on the memory of a seven year old James Diamond's eyes. The memory was so clear it was almost impossible to believe that it was real, but I was sure it was. Just to double check, though, I leaned over and whispered to Kendall, "Did we meet the Diamond boys at a Christmas party when you were about six or seven?"

He looked at me in surprise. "You remember that? You were only five then. You ran off with James Diamond while playing hide and seek, and then Mom and Brooke Diamond found you two in the kitchen, eating chocolate-covered strawberries. 'Course, Dad and Jeff Diamond found me teaching Shane Diamond how to gamble with chocolate coins, so I can't really judge you."

I shook my head. "Oh, big brother…"

"What? Dad had just taught me how to play blackjack, so I had to show my newfound skill to someone."

"Even if it was a Diamond?"

"I didn't know any better. Shane was just a nice little five year old who could scheme like nobody's business."

"Right…"

"It's funny. I remember you throwing a fit when Mom and Dad dragged us out to the car, screaming that James Diamond had called you pretty. I think Mom and Dad were seriously considering plastic surgery for you for a few days after that."

"That's scary, dude."

He shrugged. "You know how the Diamonds are."

"That's not really an excuse…"

"Tell that to Mom and Dad."

Our food arrived a little while later and we all dug in. I tuned out Felix's constant complaints about how mediocre the food was, and instead thought of what might have happened, how things might have been, if we hadn't been at war with the Diamonds for so long. I might have been dating James. Kendall and Shane could have been partners in crime. We would all be sitting together, instead of having to be placed across the room to keep from being tempted to start a gunfight. The Diamonds would have never crashed our masquerade party. We would never have blown up James' Mustang.

But the fact was, the feud had happened, and there was no changing that. And I was just going to have to re-accept that things were the way they were meant to be.

We finished our food and ordered dessert. Right after the waitress headed away again, I got to my feet. "I'm going to go find a bathroom."

"Okay," Mom smiled at me, and I hurried out.

I quickly found the women's restroom and went in to do my business. Two minutes later I re-emerged, and ran straight into James, who was just coming out of the men's restroom.

We were bumping into each other in more and more awkward places.

"Whoa," James caught me as I stumbled slightly on my high heels. All those ballet lessons my parents had paid for had gone to waste the second I stepped into my first pair of heeled pumps. "Don't fall over."

I sneered at him. "Very funny. You can let go of me now, I can stand up by myself, believe it or not."

"I find that very hard to believe, considering you almost toppled over. You grow a couple of inches?"

I glowered. "It's the shoes…"

He smirked slightly. "That would explain it. I was thinking you looked like you were over five feet."

"Screw you." I pushed away from him and stalked away, down the hall.

He followed me, easily catching up with me even though I was trying to walk as fast as was humanly possible on shoes that could have passed for stilts. "How're you enjoying the dinner?"

"It's just like any other charity dinner," I said shortly. "How are you enjoying it?"

"Could be worse. Shane and I dragged Chelsea and our other friend, Jessica, with us, so it isn't as boring as it normally would be. Who's the guy who looks like he's trying to rip off Al Capone's fashion sense?"

"That would be my uncle Felix, patriarch of our family and Hitler-wannabe."

"Oh. He sounds nice."

"Sure. He's a bundle of joy to have around," I gritted out. "If you guys want to take out anyone, go for him, kay?"

"Wow. You actually want me to kill one of your family members?"

"Would you? I'd pay you."

James laughed. "Come on, he can't be that bad."

"Does the comparison to Hitler not sound horrible enough? James, Felix Knight is evil. Take my word for it, he's fucking terrifying."

"I'll keep that in mind…"

"You do that." I continued to stumble my way back towards the event room. "Um…" I bit my lip. "Do you remember the only other time we ever actually met?"

"You mean at the Burges' Christmas party?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, I remember. My parents were so pissed when they found out that Shane and I were hanging out with you and your brother."

"So were my parents."

"The chocolate strawberries were pretty good though."

I laughed. "Yeah, they were."

"And I got you to hide behind a stature of Adonis with me."

"Yeah…I remember that."

"Know what else I remember?" We were yards away from the doors to the meeting room by this time. James stepped closer to me so that we were almost body to body. His eyes were smoldering, dark and blazing and piercing, and that alone was enough for my breath to catch in my throat.

"What?" I managed to get out.

"How pretty you looked that night." His lips brushed lightly over my ear. "But it's nothing compared to how beautiful you look now." And then he was pulling back and hurrying into the meeting room, leaving me standing in the middle of the hall, completely dumbstruck.

What the hell had just happened?!

It took a few seconds for me to get my heart kick started and for my lungs to actually work again. At last, I ventured back into the room. I immediately spotted James, Shane, Chelsea, and Jessica hanging out with Carlos Garcia. His dad was in business with James', just as Logan Mitchell's father was in business with mine.

Speaking of Logan…

He had joined Kendall at our table. I hurried over to them and sat down, greeting Logan, and then turning to the dark chocolate cake that was now sitting on the table. I helped myself to a piece, but I barely remembered eating it. I was too busy thinking of the way James' lips had just barely touched my skin; how his body had pressed softly against mine; the intense, fiery look in his eyes.

Whoa.

That had been fucking hot.

We left before the Diamonds did, hurrying out to the car and climbing in. Dad drove us home, and we all headed up to our respective bedrooms.

I changed into my pajamas, which was really just a simple chemise, before slipping my feet into my slippers and pulling my bathrobe on. I washed away all my makeup and brushed my teeth. Once I was makeup free and my breath was minty fresh, I slipped out through the French doors onto my balcony. I leaned on the railing, looking down over the quiet street. Even though it was a Friday night, there wasn't a single car passing by.

I breathed in the late autumn air, crisp with a hint of frostiness. Winter would be upon us soon, there was no doubt about that.

Just as I was about to go back into my room, I heard the quiet rumble of a car in the distance. About twenty seconds later, the car appeared in my line of vision, and my heart immediately began thudding away. The car in question was a black Dodge Challenger…James' car.

I watched as it slowed to a halt on the other side of the street. A moment later, the driver's door opened and James climbed out. He leaned against the door, looking up at me. He didn't move, just stood there, like he was waiting to see if I was going to do something.

I remained where I was, looking back at him, determined to wait him out.

We stayed like that for a good ten minutes. After the first thirty seconds or so, I had begun debating whether or not I should just go down there to see what the hell he wanted. But he never signaled me to come down to meet him, so I stayed where I was.

At last, he climbed back into his car, started it back up, and drove off.

I returned to my room, locking up the doors behind me and pulling the curtains closed, trying to pretend that I wasn't disappointed.

I could only hope that he would come by again soon. Just because I was curious about what he wanted. Of course.

* * *

**_So, I know the last part was a little strange, but it was this scene that I just couldn't get out of my head, and I knew I needed to include it. Anyway, what'd you guys think of the chapter? Of Katie's uncle? Of the first time she and James actually met? Let me know, because thoughts and ideas are truly a writer's best friend, and you'd be surprised at how much you guys actually influence and shape my stories. So, I love you guys, and I'm going to stop talking now, because anyone who reads my stories knows that I'll talk forever and ever in my A/Ns. :)_**


	5. Chapter 5: Movie Theater Explosions

_**Disclaimer: I do not, under any circumstances, own Big Time Rush. And yes, I'm still really, really upset over that.**_

_**Lenalove: Thank you so much! You're so sweet, and I'm so happy you're enjoying the story so far. You will see 'protective Kendall' in this story, as a matter of fact :) Thank you for reviewing!**_

_**THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS REVIEWED, FAVORITED, FOLLOWED, OR READ THIS STORY! Knowing that people like this story keeps me writing, so thank you :)**_

_**So, before I do anything else, I wanted to let you guys know that there might not be an update for any of my stories for a couple of weeks. I'm going on vacation with my parents, and I don't know if the WiFi is going to work, or if I'll even have the time to write.**_

_**Warnings: Language, minor violence, sexual innuendos.**_

_**Enjoy the chapter!**_

* * *

**Chapter Five: Movie Theater Explosions**

**James' POV**

It was late morning by the time I dragged myself out of bed the day after the charity dinner. I found Shane in the kitchen, eating a ham and cheese sandwich. He nodded at me. "There's sandwich fixings in the fridge."

"Thanks." I pulled out a couple pieces of bread, mustard and mayonnaise, ham, cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce, before working on building my sandwich up. "Where's Mom?"

"At Diamond Cosmetics headquarters. She told me to tell you that you need to be down at the Cherry Lake park by one-o-clock, but preferably sooner."

"Okay." I slapped the second piece of bread on the top of my sandwich and cut it in two, before placing it on a plate and carrying it over to the table. "Looks like I've got a little bit of time."

Shane nodded. "Oh, hey, Chels and Jess want to see a movie tonight. Feel like coming with?"

"Depends on the movie."

"_Shock Train_."

"Sure, I've been wanting to see that one."

"I figured. Hey, do you mind if I sit next to Chelsea?"

"Go for it. Maybe you'll even be able to make a move on her."

He snorted. "Yeah, right. She's two years older than me, and super experienced. She could have any guy she wants, including you. Why would she want me?"

"Uh, first of all, she can't have me. She's like my sister. And second, so what? Since when do you care about the age and experience of a girl?"

"Since I actually seriously considered dating said girl."

"Right…Well, do you want me to talk to her for you?"

"No!" he cried, looking horrified at the idea. "Then she'll know that I have a crush on her!"

"And that's a bad thing because…?"

"Because what if she doesn't like me back? Nah uh. I'm not risking it. I'm good with just being your weird but cool and totally hot little brother."

I snorted. "Right. Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night." I took a bite of my sandwich.

"Just humor me."

"That I can do."

An hour later, I arrived at the park. My mom ushered me into a tent so that I could change into the fitted, low slung jeans, and white button up shirt she was having me model. Sonya, the makeup artist, worked on getting rid of any freckles or blemishes that might have been hanging around my face, while asking me questions about the dinner party from the night before. I answered them as best I could, but my mind kept going back to Katie.

When I had gotten home the night before, I had seen my car in the garage and decided that taking a nighttime drive could be nice and relaxing. But somehow, I had found myself in Katie's neighborhood. And to make matters even more confusing, I had ended up parking across the street from her house. She had been on her balcony, so I had climbed out. I had tried to steel myself enough to go over to her house and maybe, I don't know, act out the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet, but it hadn't worked. So I had just climbed back into my car and drove off, while repeatedly calling myself names.

And then there was our conversation in the hall outside the event room the night before, when she had brought up the first time we had ever met. It was funny, but up until then, I hadn't even remembered meeting her. But when she had mentioned it, the memory had come flooding back. I could envision, quite clearly, the tiny little girl with huge brown eyes and long brown hair clipped back with a black and purple hair ornament. She had worn a matching party dress, and black party shoes with black tights. And purple star stick on earrings.

I chuckled to myself. It was bizarre that I could remember pretty much every detail of what she had been wearing. Made me think that, even back then, I had been hyper-aware of her.

Not much had changed in thirteen years.

Once Sonya was done fixing me up and the hair stylists had done their job, I ducked back out of the tent. My mom was waiting for me, fingers working overtime as she typed away at her phone's keypad. She looked up when she saw me, and, all business, gave me a nod. "Good. The photographer is thinking a nice shot of you by the fountain." She nodded to the town's cheap replica of the Trevi Fountain. I could see pennies, nickels, and dimes glistening at the very bottom. My mom's favorite, if extremely eccentric, photographer – Marcos del Posey – was setting up the shoot. He gestured me over a second later and I joined him.

"So," he said through his thick accent, "I was thinking a very simple shoot."

I eyed him. In the past, he had been known to use different objects to 'spice up' the shoot. He had once tried to convince my mom to have me wear a suit of armor while holding a Teddy bear for a men's cologne ad. He was lucky my mom thought he was funny. If I was in her place, I would have fired him simply for being off his fucking rocker. But my mom loved seeing what 'creative' and 'original' ideas he would come up with. Thus why I was now looking at him hesitantly and praying to God that there weren't any stuffed animals or suits of armor in the vicinity.

"How simple are we talking?" I asked him cautiously.

"Very simple. Your mother has expressed her wishes that you are photographed just as you are in front of the fountain. Of course, I suggested we fly to Rome to do the shoot, but she thought that might be a little too expensive."

I was inclined to agree with my mother. We had plenty of money, but flying to Italy for a simple photo shoot was ridiculous. It would be like flying to Paris just to buy a croissant.

Marcos shook his head. "She does not understand artistic genius or inspiration."

"_She_ doesn't have to understand artistic genius or inspiration when she's paying you an undisclosed amount for each ad," my mom said loudly as she strolled over to us. "_She's_ also not paying you to stand around and complain. Let's see that artistic genius and inspiration put in action."

And so the photo shoot began.

And let me tell you, photo shoots are _boring_. All you do is stand around, trying to look like you actually want to be standing around, and you have to keep still. I'm not good at keeping still. For me keeping still is like Harry Potter not defeating Voldemort. Keeping still is _impossible_.

After facing down Marcos' usual threats of sedating me to keep me from fidgeting, the shoot was finally over. As everything was cleared away, I breathed out a sigh of relief.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!"

I spun around at the furious exclamation, and found myself nose to nose with Katie. She glared at me. "Do you just stalk me, or is the universe out to get me?"

"I don't – "

"I'm thinking it's the former, since you did stare at me all creepily when I was on my balcony last night."

"I – "

"I mean, you're, like, everywhere I go nowadays! Can't go shopping without running into you. Can't hold a party without running into you. Can't go to the freaking bathroom without running into you! Now I can't even go for a walk in the park without running into you!"

"I just finished a photo shoot for my mom…"

"Oh. Well…well…make sure it stays finished!" She harrumphed and stormed off, looking very pissed off. After her little outburst, I really was tempted to stalk her, just to piss her off even more.

"Was that Katie Knight?" my mom walked over to me.

"Yeah…"

"What was that all about? It looked like she was yelling at you."

"Oh, you know, she thinks she owns the park."

"Figures. Typical Knight. They think they own the town. They think everything in this world revolves around them." She rolled her eyes. "And then when someone proves them wrong, they go and blow up that person's car! Vandals, terrorists, selfish, selfish people."

"Uh huh…Hey, what do you know about Felix Knight?"

"Kevin Knight's older brother? Not much, just that he's a mean son of a bitch. Rumor has it he can look a man straight in the eyes, smile at him, and then gut him."

"He sounds…nice…"

"I wouldn't want to cross him in a dark alley. And he was at the dinner last night. No wonder the Knights all looked so stiff and tense." She grinned. "Of course, if your father had a brother like that, we would keep our distance. But the Knights have never known when it's time to cut family ties. Don't get me wrong," she added, "families are one of the most important things in the world. But a man like Felix…he doesn't have any family. He only has slaves. People he uses. If any of them pissed him off, he'd have them killed. If I were the Knights, I would sneak out of the house in the middle of the night and get a one way ticket to Australia."

"I thought you said you didn't know much about him."

"I don't. But I know his type. You run into them a lot in this business."

"Ah."

She nodded. "Well, you're done for the day. You can head home if you want. By the way, why did you want to know about Felix Knight?"

"Oh, I was just curious. Someone mentioned him to me last night."

"Oh, okay."

I got in my car and headed home, still thinking about what Mom had told me about Felix Knight. It sounded like maybe Katie hadn't been exaggerating after all. And that fact alone made me nervous. I didn't want to see Katie get hurt or killed. And I really didn't want her around her uncle.

That alone was enough to freak me out. It almost sounded like I…cared about her…Which didn't make any sense whatsoever. Caring would imply liking beyond animal attraction, and that wasn't something I really wanted to deal with. I decided to store that away in the same mental folder as the one hockey game my high school team lost, my most embarrassing moment, and the time with the food coloring, my history paper, and a condom. Don't ask…

I found Shane and Chelsea sitting on the living room couch. Well, Shane was sitting on the couch. Chelsea was sitting in his lap. That was enough for me to rethink going to the movies with them that night. If they had gone from constant bickering to flirting in the space of about three hours, then I didn't want to know what could happen in a dark theater.

They both looked at me when I walked into the room. I paused before saying, "You two sure you want me to come with you tonight…?"

Chels gave me a smile. "Of course."

"Maybe Jess should come…"

"She can't, we already checked," Shane replied. "She's got to work at her other job. Her legal one."

"Right…" Jessica was scooping ice cream at the one and only Gelato shop in the entire county. I was pretty sure the pay was crappy, but she seemed to like it. And she got to taste test all the flavors, which made her happy. She was a bit of an ice cream connoisseur, so working at a Gelato shop was probably one of her dream jobs. Right after getting paid fifty bucks an hour to eat ice cream.

"Maybe we could stop in to see her before the movie," Chels suggested. "I've been craving that peanut butter and chocolate ice cream that they have."

"Oooh, that chocolate ice cream with the cherry syrup…" Shane licked his lips. "Their specialty."

"Maybe we should go in after the movie; that way we have room for popcorn," Chels said. "She said she's in there until closing, and that's not until ten. We should have some time to go in."

Shane nodded in agreement. "Sounds good. I just want their cherry syrup."

"Please don't have a love affair with the cherry syrup," I teased him. "I mean, what do you need cherry syrup if you have Chelsea?"

Shane blinked at me. "What're you talking about?"

I gestured to the very obvious fact that she was sitting in his lap. "_That_!"

"What about this?" Chels asked.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure you two aren't that stupid."

"Are you confused?" Shane asked Chels. "Cuz I am. I'm really confused."

"I'm confused," she agreed. "James, what on earth are you talking about?"

You mean besides your obvious sexual tension and attraction and the fact that you're perfect for each other? Nothing, just a bunch of nonsense ramblings.

I rolled my eyes. "Wow…I'm going up to my room now…"

"Aren't you going to explain?" Shane demanded.

"Nope, since you two apparently can't see what's right in front of you." Shaking my head, I dashed up the stairs and into my room. The second I was in the security and warmth of my room, my mind turned back to Katie.

She was right – I was everywhere she was and vice versa. And something was happening…I was starting to care about her. And that was just plain ridiculous.

I stored it away in the mental file I'd put it in originally, and instead sat down at my computer and logged into the _very_ secure website that tracked my family's shipments. We had an extremely strong firewall around the site, and more passwords and security than the FBI's website probably had.

I got through all the security, and checked on the shipment of exotic booze, the kind that you could only find on the black market if you were looking for it in the United States. I also saw that we had an impending order for a jar-full of frog eggs.

I decided I didn't want to know. Some of our clients were just bizarre.

I verified that the alcohol was enroute and had been smuggled through customs, and then logged out, moving onto my business email account. I answered the emails, before getting back into the website to place a couple more orders for our clients.

By the time I had finished, it was time to begin getting ready for the movies. I changed into jeans, a black t-shirt, my black leather jacket, and sneakers, before heading downstairs. I half-expected to find Shane and Chelsea going at it right on the couch, but when I walked into the living room, they were sitting side by side, flipping through channels.

"Ready to go?" I asked them as I tucked my wallet into the back pocket of my jeans and twirled my car keys around my fingers.

"Yep," Chels said brightly, getting to her feet. Shane followed her lead, and we all headed out to my car.

"Shotgun!" Chels yelled as we stepped into the garage, and made a beeline for the front passenger's seat.

"Damn," Shane grumbled. I unlocked the car, and Shane crawled into the back, while Chels slid into the front seat. I took my spot at the wheel and started the car, before pulling my seatbelt on.

"So, how was the photo shoot?" Chels asked me, buckling her own seatbelt.

"It was fine. Except after I was finished, I ran into Katie Knight. Again."

"Again? You two really can't stay away from each other," she grinned.

"Shut up." I backed out of the garage and down the driveway, onto the road.

"But you two aren't attracted to each other _at all_," Shane added, leaning forward and sticking his head between the front seats.

"I never said that. I know I'm attracted to her. It just doesn't make sense."

"Well, what're you gonna do about it?" Chels asked me, reaching over to crank the heat up.

"Not sure…I've kinda made it clear that I want her. So it's up to her now. The ball's in her court."

"How'd you two even meet?"

"At her family's masquerade. The one Dad and I crashed. We hung out and danced and flirted and didn't know who the other person was."

"So, basically, you hit it off?"

"Yep. Tons of chemistry there."

"And then you held a gun to her head, and now you're surprised that she doesn't want to sleep with you?"

I took my eyes off the road long enough to glare at Chelsea. "I never said that. If I was her, I wouldn't want to come near me either. But this situation is complicated."

"It's true," Shane agreed. "I mean, we have almost a century of hate between our families. It started when we were betrayed to the Stetsons, and then Johnny Diamond and Ulysses Knight had a standoff and killed each other. That just sealed the deal. Then the Knights refused to return the bracelet our family had given them, so we stole it back. They said it was a friendship gift. Even if it was a friendship gift, you don't go selling your friends out to your enemies."

"Exactly," I put in. "The Knights are every bit as guilty as we are, if not guiltier. And that bracelet belongs to us, fair and square."

"It doesn't, unless it was exchanged as a…I don't know, a place-holder," Chelsea said. "Like a contract. You know, they keep the bracelet as long as you're in business together, and the second the business deal is terminated, you get the bracelet back."

"Well, that's what our family thought was going on. But the Knights twist and turn stuff to fit their own needs and purposes," Shane replied coolly.

"Is there any proof of it?"

"Probably not," he answered. "We'd have to go through a lot of documents and stuff, a lot of old storage boxes. And even then…"

"Look, I'm sure if you found a document stating what exactly the bracelet was for, they'd hand it over," she told us in a soothing voice, like she thought we might explode and take the car skyward with us, or something.

We both glowered at her. "There's no way in hell that would happen," I snapped.

"They hate us, they'd keep it just to spite us," Shane added furiously. "You're such an optimist."

"Hey, sometimes it's good to see the glass half full, rather than half empty, like you two do," she retorted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"We don't see it half empty," I snipped. "We're realists. We see it as the liquid is half gone, but there's still some left."

"Whatever." She shook her head, letting her curls fall into her face. I saw Shane glance back at her, a discreet look of longing on his face, and I mentally sighed. He really needed to just ask her out already, because I was pretty sure she was going to say yes. And in any case, he had liked her for the past two years. It was high time he actually did something about it.

We reached the Cherry Lake Cinema about five minutes later, and I parked. We got out and headed up to the ticket booth, where we bought our tickets and made our way inside. Chels led the way up to the concession stand, where she bought her weight in candy bars, along with a large root beer, and Shane and I both got large popcorns and large Cokes.

We headed to the gate that the movie was showing in, and settled down in the middle row, spreading our stuff out. Shane had ended up sitting between Chels and me, and he kept glancing at her as if trying to get up the nerve to say something. I was tempted to just shout "DO IT ALREADY!" but I didn't – mainly because there was an older couple a few rows down from us, and they had turned around to glare at us when we had sprawled out over the seats.

And all that was being shown were the previews. They would probably be the king and queen of movie theater "shhh"ers.

I grabbed a handful of popcorn and stuffed it into my mouth, before standing up again.

Chels and Shane both looked at me and I shrugged. "I'm gonna go use the bathroom really quick. Be right back." I headed out to the men's restroom and did my business, before retreating from the stall to wash my hands. Another toilet flushed, and my eyes widened as I caught sight of the man in the mirror.

Kendall Knight.

He froze when he saw me, before stepping around me to get to the other sink. "Diamond," he said by way of acknowledgement.

I nodded my head at him. "Knight." And then, mainly because I couldn't resist, I asked, "How's your sister? Recovering from the trauma I put her through?"

"Very funny," he sneered. "My sister is just fine, thank you very much. And she's going to stay that way, so don't come near our family again."

"Whatever you say, Knight in Shining Armor." I turned the tap off and grabbed a paper towel out of the dispenser, drying my hands before tossing it in the trashcan. "See ya around."

I headed out of the bathroom and back to the gate. I quickly found Shane and Chelsea and took my place with them again. Not thirty seconds later, I saw a tall, blonde guy, and a petite, brown haired girl making their way up the stairs to where Shane, Chels, and I were sitting.

Wow, we had gotten both Knight siblings in the Cherry Lake Cinema, and in the very same screening room to boot. What were the chances?

Kendall glared at us, and Katie scowled. Shane and I both returned their looks, while Chels just shook her head.

After a long, intense glaring contest, Katie tossed her hair over her shoulder and led the way down our aisle, stopping beside me. "I just want you to know, I'm not sitting here because I want to, but because this is the only way I can ensure that you don't do anything."

"Like try to blow up the theater?" I suggested, looking up at her and munching on my popcorn. "Go ahead, sit down. Maybe if you're lucky I'll even finger you."

"Fuck you, you little bastard," Kendall snarled, and I sniggered.

"Dude, I'm, like, two inches taller than you, and have a lot more muscle on you. Oh, and I also don't swing that way." I smirked at him.

"Come on, Katie, let's go sit somewhere else," Kendall growled, but Katie grabbed his hand.

"No! That's what he wants. We're staying."

"I don't trust him in a dark theater with you."

"Then you sit next to me," I suggested mildly.

"I don't trust you in a dark theater with _me_!"

I let out a dramatic sigh. "Haven't I already told you that I don't swing that way? I'm straight, otherwise I wouldn't have offered to finger your sister."

Kendall flexed his fingers as if he was resisting the urge to place them around my throat.

I smiled sweetly at him.

"Ugghh, fine!" He dropped into the chair one down from me, and Katie plopped down in the seat beside mine.

On my other side, Shane and Chels had begun murmuring to each other. I spared them a glance, before turning slightly away from them and focusing on my popcorn and the trailer for some stupid comedy that was coming out in the early spring.

"I can't believe you're the third wheel on a double date," Kendall mumbled, and I looked over at him.

"I'm not. They're not together."

"You're kidding me. Dude, she's practically in your brother's lap."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," I commented dryly.

"Are they always like this?"

"Yeah, pretty much. This afternoon she really was in his lap." I shuddered. "Talk about awkward."

"Okay, they really need to get together, because the tension's nuts. I mean, even I can feel it, and I barely know Shane, I don't know the girl, and I don't like any of you."

"Yeah, we already know that, thanks."

"I don't know how you deal with it," Katie told me. "Putting up with those two."

"Let's just say I constantly hope that if they start randomly making out, I won't be around to see it."

"Makes sense."

"That's what I thought. Popcorn?" I offered her my bucket, and she took a handful.

"Thanks."

I offered it to Kendall as well, but he turned it up.

The movie began a few minutes later, and we all settled in.

Partway through, I'm not exactly sure when, Katie and I managed to scoot as close to each other as we possibly could with the armrest still in the way. At some of the more intense action scenes, she'd grab my arm, holding onto it for dear life.

"Chill," I said softly as the scene switched away from the exploding car to a dimly lit bedroom. "None of it's real, it's all fake."

"I know," she replied. "But it's still a little freaky sometimes."

"I'm sure."

A moment later, the two leads, a young man, and a young woman, were shown in a full out make out frenzy, with him holding her and pushing her back against the wall. They took it to the bed quickly, the scene purposefully shadowed so that you couldn't see anything descriptive, but their moans and groans were narrative enough for the audience to know exactly what was going on.

I glanced, almost unwillingly, at Katie, and she looked back at me, holding my gaze. She licked her bottom lip, before biting down on it, and I resisted the urge to kiss her right then and there. Actually, maybe _resist_ isn't the right word to use. It was more of a fight, a struggle, a fucking war, not to go at her lips with mine. At that moment, there was nothing I wanted more than to have her on her back and naked on my bed, with me able to do whatever I wanted to her, while she moaned my name and grabbed at my hair and raked her nails down my back.

I could almost hear her whimpering out my name as I thrusted in and out of her repeatedly, holding her tightly and murmuring to her.

Oh, great. Now I was thinking about what it would be like to fuck the enemy's daughter while watching a movie with her. I was doing great here, real family loyalty.

The movie ended soon after, and we all dragged ourselves up and down the stairs. We emerged into the lobby, before making our way outside.

Kendall eyed me for a long moment, before nodding, almost cordially, at me, and I nodded back. Katie glanced at me, eyes filled with something that I was pretty sure I recognized, because my eyes would, at that moment, be filled with the same thing: Longing. Lust. Desire. Need. And maybe a hint of caring.

If I had ever doubted that she was experiencing the same level of sexual tension that I was, I knew I wasn't going to anymore. We wanted each other, and desperately.

But the question was, I thought as we walked away from each other, towards our separate cars, was if we wanted each other in more ways than one.

I had just reached my car, Shane and Chels joining me, when there was a hot blast, and a booming explosion. My head snapped up, and I could see the fire coming from where Kendall and Katie had been headed.

I dashed in that direction, and Shane and Chels followed after me.

Several cars were in ruined, and laying on the ground, blood matting his hair, was Kendall. And beside him, just as motionless as him, laid Katie.

* * *

**_So...quite the explosion..._**

**_What'd you guys think of the chapter? Did you love it? Like it? Hate it? The review button and I would both love to hear from you guys ;)_**


	6. Chapter 6: Breaking and Hacking

_**Check it out! I'm finally getting out a new chapter of Take the Heat!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned Big Time Rush.**_

_**James is mine: I'm sorry for the wait, but hopefully this'll make up for it a little bit :) Thank you so much, and thank you for reviewing! I really appreciate it.**_

_**THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, followed, or read this story! Your support means the world to me, so thank you! :)**_

_**Warnings: Language, mild violence, mentions of gun violence, and illegal activity.**_

_**I'm so sorry for the wait! A few people chewed me out for ending the last chapter with a cliffhanger when I wouldn't be updating for a little while, and I'm sorry for that, but I have school and other stories that need to be attended to as well. And I'm sorry if I'm acting like a bit of a bitch, but unfortunately, other things do take precedence sometimes. But I'm sorry that you guys had to wait over a month for the new chapter, that wasn't my intention at all. I just got hit with a whole bunch of stuff and I had to set this story aside for a little while. But hopefully this chapter will make up for it :)**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter Six: Breaking and Hacking**

**James' POV**

Chelsea had her phone out in half a second. "I'm calling 911," she announced shakily, already dialing the three digit number.

I didn't respond; instead, I knelt down between Katie and Kendall, trying to assess the damage. Kendall slowly opened his eyes, and I let out a small sigh of relief. Well, at least he wasn't dead. Nevertheless, I did a quick vital sign check on him, before turning to Katie.

She was lying in a crumpled heap on the pavement, blood gushing from where her head had hit the ground. I immediately unzipped my sweatshirt and pulled it off, placing it around the wound, before checking her breathing. Nothing.

I furrowed my brow, doing my very best not to panic, before realizing that she had probably gotten the wind knocked out of her, and her body had shut itself down when she hit the ground.

I checked her heart, and let out a small sigh of relief. It was beating fast, but at least it was working.

"The ambulance is on its way," Chels breathed out. "And so is the fire truck."

"Help me move them," I urged Shane and Chels, beginning to feel the heat of the fire that the explosion had caused. They helped me move Kendall and Katie away from the fire, and I knelt beside Katie again. I tilted her head back and opened her mouth, before taking a deep breath and closing my mouth of hers. I breathed into her mouth, cupping her head to support it. I pulled back, took another breath, and repeated my previous action. I'm not sure how long it took, but she gave a shuddering gasp and slowly opened her eyes, looking up at me. I looked back at her, still cradling her head with my sweatshirt and hand, and she reached up, trailing her fingers down my cheek.

In the distance, sirens sounded.

Shane, Chelsea, and I made sure that Katie and Kendall were loaded properly into their respective ambulances before heading back to my car. None of us said anything, but I knew we wouldn't be able to get the scene we had just witnessed out of our heads anytime soon.

We wordlessly got into my car, and I drove us to the gelato shop. We stumbled in, over to the counter where Jess was. Her eyes widened. "I just heard something about an explosion at the movie theater," she gasped out. "What – where you guys – ?"

"The Knight kids were there," I mumbled out. "Their car blew up."

"James saved Katie Knight's life," Chels added.

"Whatever. Two scoops of chocolate caramel peanut butter," I said to Jess.

"Sure you should be eating sugar at a time like this?" she asked, dishing me up the ice cream anyway. "I mean, you kind of seem like you're in shock."

"I'm fine. Now gimme!" I paid for my ice cream and took the bowl from her, digging in.

Shane and Chels both placed their orders and Jess passed them their bowls once they had paid.

"Are you guys okay?" she asked worriedly.

"I think we're just a little shocked," Chels said with a shrug. "I think James is more freaked out than us, but he has some kind of emotional slash sexual connection with the baby Knight, sooo…"

"He performed mouth to mouth resuscitation on her," Shane added. "I guess she wasn't breathing."

I shook my head. "She'd had the wind knocked out of her, and there was probably other damage as well. I don't know how close she and Kendall were to the car when it blew up…"

"Well, they obviously weren't in the car," Jess said as she began to wipe the counter down. "Otherwise they would be dead. And, I mean, why blow up a car if you don't even know if the person will be in it or not?" she added. "When you guys blew up Kendall Knight's car, you ensured that he wasn't in it at the time. But the car was blown up in a movie theater parking lot, parked alongside a whole bunch of other cars. Anyone could have been walking by. Whoever did this obviously didn't care if they killed anyone."

"If that's the case, it was a message," I put in. "A sloppy, poorly executed message, but a message nonetheless."

"Exactly," Jessica agreed. "Well, it obviously wasn't you guys. You make sure not to hurt anyone in the crossfire."

"I know." I sighed. "I'm just glad they're all right."

Shane nudged me. "Make sure you don't let Dad hear you say that."

"I won't. Although, he's not a bad person. I don't think he wants the Knights dead. He just wants them…not here, basically. And he wants the bracelet. But blowing up Kendall Knight's car isn't going to get him either of those things, and he knows that. He's too smart for this."

"That he is."

"Well, I'm just glad no one got killed," Jess put in.

I nodded. "Agreed."

We stayed there until closing time, when Jess shooed us out. We waited outside for her, and walked her to her car. She hugged each one of us tightly, before getting into the driver's seat. Chels, Shane, and I made our way to my car, and I drove us home.

Chelsea headed off to her family's house, and Shane and I went on inside.

Dad was waiting for us in the living room. "What happened at the movie theater?" he demanded. "With the explosion?"

"We're not entirely sure…" I answered. "It wasn't you, right? You didn't blow of the car?"

He shook his head. "And risk hurting innocent bystanders? Of course not!"

"Well, someone obviously didn't care about that," I replied.

"And the Knights? Are they okay?"

"I think so." I nodded. "The last time we saw them, they were being lifted into ambulances."

"Okay. And you two?"

"We're fine," Shane assured him. "A little shocked, but we're okay."

"Well, that's good." Dad shook his head again. "Someone else is out to get the Knights? Damn, it's our job to torment them, not someone else's!"

I almost laughed. He reminded me of when Shane and I had been in third grade and fifth grade. A fourth grade bully had decided to pick on Shane during recess, and when I found out, I went after the little punk with all my ten year old fury. I was the only one allowed to tease Shane, no one else. And let me tell you, when I got done with that nine year old kid, he never went near Shane again.

"Well, now I'm curious." Dad got to his feet. "I'm going to go ask around. Either of you want to come?"

Shane shook his head. "I just kind of want to veg out…"

I nodded in agreement. "I mean, if you need me I can go…"

"Nah, that's okay. I won't be getting into anything dangerous." He headed to the front door and opened it, before slowly raising his hands and backing away. "Perhaps I spoke too soon."

Shane and I both leapt to our feet as several men appeared in the doorway, guns pointed at us. My eyes narrowed as I recognized one of the men: Kevin Knight.

"Hands in the air," he snarled, and Shane and I reluctantly raised our hands.

Dad glanced over at Shane and me. "You know how I have that rule about not carrying guns around the house?"

"Yeah…"

"I may have been a tad hasty with that rule…"

Shane and I both nodded. "Yeah, just a little bit," Shane growled out.

"So…" Dad turned back to Kevin. "Don't suppose it's not too late to ask what we did this time? If this is about the bracelet – "

"It's not," he snarled. "This is about my kids and the fact that my son's car practically exploded on them."

"We didn't do anything," I spoke up. "We had nothing to do with that."

"You, your brother, and your girlfriend were at the movie theater tonight."

"Yeah, but we didn't put a bomb or whatever in your son's car."

"So who else did?" he demanded. "You three had means and motive, not to mention opportunity."

"What is this, _CSI, _gangster style?" I snapped. "We didn't do it. Why would we lie? If we had planted the bomb in his car, don't you think we'd be snatching up bragging rights? Instead, we're standing in the middle of our living room with guns pointed at us, denying that we had anything to do with trying to kill your kids."

"He's right," Shane piped up. "Believe me, it wasn't us. We just wanted to see a fucking movie, not to kill anyone! We didn't even know your kids were going to show up."

"Exactly," I agreed. "You're accusing the wrong people."

"And how do I know that for sure?" Kevin growled.

"Well…you don't…" Dad said slowly. "And I guess that you never will." He gave Shane and me a nod and a vague hand signal. It took me a second to recognize it, but once I did, I knew exactly what was going to happen.

Our men busted into the room, tossing guns to my dad, Shane, and me. I caught mine neatly and pointed it at the nearest Knight crony. "You shoot," I said to Kevin, "and your men are going down with us."

"And who knows?" Dad added in. "You'll probably be caught in the crossfire. Now get the fuck out of my house, before it starts raining bullets in here."

Kevin glanced at his men, before giving them a curt nod. They slowly backed out of the house, guns still trained on us. At last, they were out the door, and one of our men closed and locked it back up. "You guys seriously need a better alarm system, we almost got here too late," he informed my dad, who nodded.

"That we do."

I slowly lowered my gun, letting out a long held breath. It was safe again.

"What now?" Shane asked, looking a little shaky.

"I'm going to go ask around now. Keep the doors locked, and don't let anyone inside at all. And we're going to get back at the Knights for this. Coming into our house with guns drawn…At least when we did it, we only did it as a last resort. It wasn't like we came bursting into their house like it was fucking World War III!" And with that, he stormed out of the house, looking even more pissed off than before.

"This is bad, isn't it?" Shane said to me. "This thing with the Knight siblings almost getting killed."

I nodded. "Oh yeah. The feud between us is about to get even hotter and more intense than before. I have no idea how we're going to come out of this damn thing."

"We're screwed…"

"Maybe. Or maybe just the Knights are."

"Well, they are the ones who got targeted," he pointed out. "Maybe someone just really, really hates the Knights."

"It's a possibility," I agreed. "But what's interesting is that the car exploded when we were all at the movie theater. That is _not_ a coincidence."

"You think it was set up?"

"Oh yeah. Just look at how Kevin Knight reacted. Shane, we were framed. Maybe not outwardly, but Kevin Knight immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was us. And who knows what he's going to do now? He might try outright to kill us next, to get revenge for what happened to Katie and Kendall. Whoever did this was smart. They knew what would happen, they knew how to play the game, they knew how to just creep in unnoticed and tip the scale so that the balls rolled to one side."

"Um…explain the last metaphor, please?"

"Basically, someone just gained control over the war between the Knights and us."

Shane's face paled. "But…who?"

"I have no clue."

"But…what if it was the Knights themselves? I mean, Dad's always saying how sneaky and conniving they are. They could have decided to tip the scale, so to speak, to make it look like they were just getting revenge on us for what they might do next."

"But would they risk Katie and Kendall's lives? Kevin Knight might be sneaky and conniving, but he also loves his kids. And Katie and Kendall were definitely hurt, that wasn't faked."

"Maybe it backfired on him," Shane suggested. "Maybe it was supposed to go off before the movie ended, but something went wrong. Maybe he miscalculated how long the movie was going to be, or maybe something went wrong with the bomb's timer. Or maybe it went off right when it was supposed to, with Kendall and Katie in range, but not actually in the car. I mean, what better way to play the wounded victim then to not actually kill your kids, but to injure them enough, to make it look like we were _thisclose_ to bumping them off? To make it look like we're the ones in the wrong here."

"But why? Who would he be trying to fool?" I replied. "Not the cops. The cops don't want anything to do with us, and rightly so."

"Well, what if they're trying to get someone else on their side? Maybe the Stetsons? Or maybe just get more help from someone outside of Cherry Lake?"

"Interesting theory…It's possible," I said, biting down on my lower lip. "Definitely a possibility. I don't know if he's capable of risking his kids' lives…but if he didn't actually think he was putting them in danger…"

"He totally would."

"For sure."

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. "I'm going to head up to my room."

"Okay."

"I might call the hospital…see how Katie and Kendall are doing…"

Shane eyed me. "You really are falling for the baby Knight, aren't you?"

I shook my head. "I honestly don't know. There's just something about her that seems to draw me in…It's like we're magnets, polar opposites, and we're pulled in towards each other. And I know she feels it. When we left the theater, Katie gave me this…this _look_…"

"What kind of look?" Shane asked curiously.

"Like…I can't even describe it. It was just intense. It just…it was like looking into an emotional mirror. Everything that I was feeling towards her was reflected in her eyes. Shane, she feels the same way about me that I do about her. There's something there. I don't know what, but there is. And I don't know why it's there, but whatever it is…"

"It's dangerous," Shane said quietly. "And you know it. She's Kevin Knight's daughter. She's one of the enemies."

"I know. But…I still care whether or not she lives or dies. And I need to know how she's doing."

"James…"

"What?" I snapped as I turned the stairs.

"Just…don't get too attached…"

"I'm not going to."

"You're going to call the hospital to check on her."

"And her brother!"

"Because he's her brother. They're the enemy."

"Would you say that to me if it as Chelsea?" I demanded as I mounted the stairs. "Would you really believe that if you had seen Chels on the ground, almost dead?"

"That's different."

"No. The difference is who our families are."

"We have family loyalty."

"I'm not going to fucking marry the girl!" I shouted furiously. "I'm just calling to make sure that she's okay! And I'm not asking for your permission. I just want to know if she's okay. Is that all right? Am I allowed to be a little bit concerned about her after seeing her almost die tonight? Am I allowed to be a tiny bit worried?"

"I'm not saying otherwise. I just don't want you to get attached. I know you. You always jump into relationships, and then things go to shit. I don't want you getting hurt again, much less by Katie Knight. Just being with her would be dangerous, but with your track record…"

"I know. Believe me, I know. But I don't have any plans to get into a relationship with her. We're not meant to be. But I'm still going to be worried about her, if just for tonight."

Shane wordlessly nodded, and I dashed up the stairs to my room, closing and locking the door, before digging out my phone. I Googled the number for the Cherry Lake General Hospital and quickly found it. I dialed it in carefully and put the phone up to my ear, listening to the ringing on the other end.

Right after the second ring, there was the sound of the call being connected, and a moment later, a polite, female voice said, "Cherry Lake General Hospital, how may I help you?"

"Hi," I said into my phone. "I was wondering if anyone could give me any information on a couple of patients who were admitted tonight."

"Could I get their names?" the receptionist asked me.

"Kendall and Katie Knight."

"Could you hold for just a moment?"

"Sure." The next moment, some sort of classical music was playing, and I sighed, sinking down into my desk chair wearily. I ran my fingers through my hair again, tipping my head back and letting out another sigh. _Please just hurry up_…

About a minute later, there was a click and the receptionist was back. "Their conditions are stable – they'll survive."

I let out a sigh of relief. "That's really good to hear. Thank you so much."

"You're very welcome. Any other questions?"

"Could I have their room numbers?"

"I'm sorry but you'll have to come in, in person, so that we can get some ID," she said apologetically. "There's intense security around their rooms, and you'll need to be on the approved visitor list to see them."

I let out a small groan of frustration. "Never mind, I won't be."

"I'm sorry, sweetie."

"Thanks anyway." Sighing deeply, I hung up and tossed my phone to the side. I dragged myself out of my chair and over to my bed, collapsing on it.

I couldn't get the way Katie had looked, laying motionless on the ground in a pool of her own blood, out of my head…I wasn't sure I had ever been so terrified in my life. And that alone scared me, because I had had quite a few moments where I was scared shitless. And then there was the fact that it was her…The enemy's daughter…Except that she was becoming so much more to me than just the enemy's daughter. She was becoming an actual human being to me. An eighteen year old girl. A very beautiful eighteen year old girl. A very beautiful eighteen year old girl who I might have been falling for. And I didn't know what the hell I was going to do.

I didn't bother getting undressed or brushing my teeth. Instead I just laid there on my bed in a bit of a daze, trying to get the sight of Katie's limp body to just _fucking stop_ flashing through my mind.

I'm not sure how long I laid there, but I finally couldn't take it anymore. I leapt to my feet and dashed out of my room, down the hall to my dad's office. As I had hoped, it was dark and empty. Perfect.

I slipped in and locked the door behind me, before getting onto his computer. My fingers flew over the keys as I went through the steps to hack into the hospital's computer records. We rarely hacked into websites and records, and never for anything less than life or death, but in this case, it was either go insane, or commit a felony. And my family had already done enough stuff so that if the feds ever looked a little more closely at us, we'd end up in jail for the rest of our lives and then for part of our deaths. And it wasn't like I was messing with the website. I just needed to find out what Katie's room number was. And I had gotten into the site undetected, and with a few careful keystrokes, I got out the same way.

Success.

Armed with Katie's and Kendall's room numbers, I cleared all traces of my presence in the room, and hurried out to my car.

A half hour later, I was sneaking past the receptionist at the information desk, and rushing for the elevator.

Hoping that there weren't going to be any armed guards around Katie's room, I got out on the designated floor and made my way down the hall, finally reaching the right door. It was unguarded, and the rest of the corridor looked completely empty.

Good.

With a deep breath, I pushed the door open and slid into the room as quietly as I could.

The lights were off, but there was a window at the far end of the room, and the curtains were open, allowing Katie a full view of the moon, the stars, and the town.

There was a movement from the bed, and my eyes shifted from the window, landing on the small figure swathed in white sheets, almost glowing in the dark. She was sitting up and her body was turned towards me.

"I'll hit the panic button," she threatened, her voice hoarse and dry. In the moonlight, I could see a thick white bandage wrapped around her head, and cords to monitors trailing from her arm.

"I'm not here to hurt you," I said softly. "I just – I just wanted to see you."

"Really." It wasn't a question, but a skeptical statement, letting me know that she didn't believe me one bit.

"Believe me, if I was going to hurt you, I would have just left you unconscious in the movie theater parking lot. I would have dragged Chels away before she could call 911, and I wouldn't have given you mouth to mouth."

"It was you…" she whispered. "It really was you…"

"Yeah. I was there, and so was Shane and Chelsea."

"You saved my life."

"Maybe. I just did what the medics would have done once they got there."

She pulled her knees up to her chest, looking tiny and vulnerable in the hospital bed with her head bandaged up and IVs strung between her arm and sterile looking machines. "Thank you…" It was quiet, so quiet I almost missed it.

"You're welcome."

She glanced over at me. "Why?"

"You thanked me…"

"Not that. Why did you save me?"

"I – I couldn't let you die."

"I'm your enemy's daughter."

"And I'm your enemy's son."

"But you still saved my life."

"I wasn't just going to stand there and watch you die," I told her. "I'm not a killer."

"I know. I just…" She groaned. "It just doesn't make any sense to me. Why you did it, I mean."

"I told you why. Would you have let me die if you were in my position?"

"No…Probably not."

"There you go. It's not a big deal."

"I guess…" I could hear the uncertainty in her voice.

I paused for a moment, still hovering by the door. "Well…I guess I should probably head out…"

"How did you get in here?" she asked suddenly.

"Excuse me?"

"How did you get in here? My dad has my room and Kendall's under lock and key practically."

"I…took some gangster liberties…"

I could hear the smile in her voice as she said, "Meaning, you hacked into the hospital's database."

"I wanted to see if you were okay."

"And you sneaked in at…one-o-clock in the morning."

"Yeah, pretty much."

She chuckled, before raising her hand to her head, wincing slightly before relaxing again. "Dude, you're crazy."

"Believe me, I already know that. It's not a surprise to me at all."

I could see her grin at me through the dark. "Thank you. For saving my life and coming to see me. I really appreciate both."

"You're very welcome," I replied, smiling back at her. "Is there anything you need before I leave?"

She hesitated. "Um…this is probably just my concussion talking…but could I maybe…get a hug?"

I stared at her. "From who?"

"From you."

"It's definitely your concussion talking," I informed her. "But yeah, definitely." And with that, I crossed the room and sank down onto her hospital bed, wrapping my arms around her. She leaned into me, letting out a small, contented sigh.

"You're getting Diamond germs on you," I told her.

"I don't really care."

"How much damage did that explosion do to you?"

"Just shut up and hug me."

I chuckled but did so, pulling her closer to me.

And as bad as it was, I couldn't even work up the motivation to remind myself that she was the enemy's daughter. Because, for that long moment at least, she was just Katie, a beautiful eighteen year old girl who fit perfectly against me as I held her tightly.

I definitely couldn't go back now.

* * *

_**So, how'd you guys like the chapter? The Knight siblings are okay (whoo hoo!), but there might be another player in the feud...Not to mention James' feelings for Katie. If you feel like reviewing and letting me know whether or not you enjoyed the chapter, that'd be awesome, and it'd make both the review button and me very happy :)**_


	7. Chapter 7: Obsession

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush, not even a little, little bit, because no one at Nickelodeon will talk to me. Oh, I also don't own Harry Potter...Sadly, J.K Rowling is the creative genius, not me.**_

_**Miss Sparkles: Aww, thank you so much! I'm so happy to hear that, and you're so sweet! That means so much :) Thank you for taking the time to leave such a sweet and awesome review! :)**_

_**James is mine: Sorry for the long wait, but I hope this chapter makes up for it :) And yep, she does! Thank you for reviewing, I really appreciate it!**_

_**KnylonMaslow: Thank you so very much! That means so, so much :) And I'm continuing, I'm continuing ;P Thank you for taking the time to review!**_

_**Nahlah: Thank you for reviewing! I'm so happy you're enjoying this story, and I'm so sorry that you had to wait.**_

_**So, wow! You guys blew me away with all your reviews for chapter six! All your feedback and cheering just made me want to write even more, and I'm so sorry for the wait. This would have been up a couple weeks ago, but I'll get to that in a sec. My point is, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who takes the time to review, or favorite, or follow, or just simply read this story, or any of my stories, because everything counts :) I love you guys so, so much!**_

_**A/N: All right, so some of you probably know that my laptop crashed a couple of weeks ago. I won't go into the details with it, but yeah, that's why I've been almost MIA. But the good news is that I finally managed to get a new laptop, and that's why this is getting posted now. It would've been up a few hours ago, but unfortunately, a ton of crap happened early this afternoon, and then I had homework to deal with. And I'm really sorry that you guys have had to wait so long for updates. I have some editing to do with a couple of other stories, but this one just needed a quick read through, so that's why this is the chapter that's getting posted. But believe me, I'm planning on getting the next chapters for "Touch the Flame" and "Break the Ice" up, and hopefully I'll get some inspiration for "Haunted Revenge". Because, yes, just like with "The DLS-S Cruise", I have a very strong love/hate relationship with it. But don't worry, I'm going to stick with the story. The updates will probably just be a little bit farther apart than with the other stories' updates.**_

_**And I still haven't caught up on reviews, so I'll try to get to that soon. But I will say that I appreciate and love every single (nice) review that I get, and they keep me going, so thank you :)**_

_**Okay, I think every order of business is taken care of. I'm just going to ask you guys if you've seen James cover of Zedd's song "Clarity"? Or seen Carlos' music video for "Love Me Again"? Because I'm entirely obsessed with both (which fits, because "Obsession" is the title of this chapter), so both are on my mind.**_

_**Okay, I'm going to stop talking now and let you guys read the chapter.**_

_**Warnings: Illegal business, mentions of corrupt politicians, hacking into computer systems, mentions of firearms and carrying firearms, mentions of violence, and language.**_

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Obsession**

**James' POV**

I'm not sure how long I held Katie, but eventually, I realized that her breathing had evened out and her body was loose and relaxed. I pulled back and gently laid her back against the pillows, tugging the blankets up around her and tucking her in.

I paused, before leaning over and softly pressing my lips to her forehead, letting them linger just for a moment, before stepping back.

I managed to get out of the hospital without anyone noticing me, and I rushed out to my car. I did a quick check to make sure that there weren't any bombs hanging out in the backseat or in the trunk, and climbed into the driver's seat. I started the car up and glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It read 2:04 AM.

Even though it was late, I still felt completely wide awake. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten that gelato…Or maybe it just came from being in Katie's presence. There was just something about being around her that felt like a shot of caffeine, enough to make me jittery and hyper.

Nevertheless, I put the car in gear, turned on the radio, and backed out of the parking spot. I navigated out of the parking lot and onto the road, keeping my eyes peeled for any Knights who might be looking for revenge. I didn't meet any vengeful gang members, and the drive home was pretty uneventful. I pulled into the garage, shut off the ignition, got out of my car, and headed on inside. The house was dark, and I crept upstairs to my room, where I pulled my t-shirt off, kicked my sneakers off, and pushed my jeans down my legs, before tumbling onto my bed. I wiggled under the covers, already falling asleep.

The last thought I had before I hit unconsciousness was, _I hope I can see Katie again soon_…

I slept deeply and soundly, and when I woke up to the sound of birds chirping and the sight of sun streaming into my room, I couldn't remember what my dream had been about at all, though I had a vague impression that Katie had weaved in and out of it. I just didn't know what it had been about, or what she had been doing in it.

I glanced at the clock and saw that it was eight-forty-five. Normally I would have stayed in bed and tried to get a couple more hours of sleep, but instead I pushed my blankets back and got out of bed. I grabbed a pair of sweats and a t-shirt from a pile of clothes on the floor and made my way to my bathroom, where I went through my usual morning routine. I took a quick shower before heading back out into my room to dress quickly.

I checked my phone to see if I had any new messages, before making my way down the stairs. I found Dad sitting at the kitchen table, nursing a cup of coffee while Mom stood at the stove, flipping pancakes.

They both looked around as I walked into the room.

"Hi, honey," Mom smiled at me. "How did you sleep? Did you have nightmares after everything that happened last night?"

I shook my head. "Actually, I slept pretty soundly. I guess I was exhausted."

"I'm sure you were," she said sympathetically. "I know Shane's still crashed out."

"Not surprising." I poured myself a cup of coffee and added cream and sugar, before sitting down at my usual spot at the table. "Did you find out anything about who blew Kendall Knight's car up?" I directed at Dad.

He shook his head. "Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Either no one actually knows, or no one's willing to talk. And honestly, I think it could go either way. It really just depends on who did it."

"Where did you ask around?" Mom asked curiously as she brought a plate of pancakes over to Dad. She placed the butter and syrup in front of him and looked over at me. "Are you hungry?"

I nodded. "Starving."

"I'll make you a stack of pancakes."

"Thanks, Mom."

She smiled at me before heading back to the stove.

"I asked around at the Cherry Pit," Dad said to Mom.

The Cherry Pit was the local bar. It was usually a wealth of information, especially for those who were willing to gamble high and pay even higher – namely, gangsters. So it was pretty shocking in itself that he hadn't been able to find out anything there. And that alone made me think that the identity of the car bomber was completely unknown, a total mystery.

"Anywhere else?" she asked.

"I visited a few of my usual informants, but they didn't know anything either. It's like whoever did this is a ghost, who just flitted into town long enough to polish off Kendall Knight's car."

"That's just weird," she stated. "There's usually some information from somewhere, and if anyone can get it, it's you."

Dad sighed. "I know. None of this makes any sense. And I'm sure Kevin Knight will be asking around, if he hasn't already."

"Naturally. I wouldn't expect anything else. It's what you would be doing if it was James and Shane instead of Kendall and Katie."

"Exactly. I'm kind of hoping that he does manage to dig something up, because we don't need a repeat of last night. How he even got past the gates is beyond me…"

"Well, when you're scared and angry and worried, you usually manage to get pretty creative," Mom pointed out.

"True," he agreed. "It's just amazing…I guess he managed to get the gate's pass code. We're going to have to come up with a new one."

Mom and I both nodded in agreement.

"And we need to do it soon," he added. "I'll go and change the code to a temporary one, but once Shane gets down here, we're going to come up with a _really_ difficult one, so that the Knights won't be able to come barging in here again."

"All right," Mom said with a nod. "Go do what you need to do."

Dad got to his feet and headed out. As the front door fell closed behind him, Mom walked around to put a stack of pancakes in front of me.

"Thanks," I said gratefully as I dumped syrup and spread butter over them. I dug in happily.

"You're welcome, sweetie."

Dad returned a few minutes later and gave us the new pass code for the gate. Mom and I quickly memorized it, not bothering to write it down in case the paper got into the wrong hands.

I headed out soon after to check on the shipments that were due to arrive at one of our warehouses at the edge of town. I drove through Cherry Lake, the radio blaring while I did my best to focus on the task at hand, but to no avail. My mind kept drifting back to Katie. I was considering going to visit her that night. Wasn't sure if I actually would, but I knew I definitely wanted to. Just, maybe I wouldn't go as late as I had the night before. It had been pure luck that she had been awake when I had walked into her room.

Or maybe it wasn't luck at all. She could very easily tell her father and brother that I had visited her. I had a feeling Kevin Knight wouldn't be thrilled to hear that, and I was guessing Kendall wouldn't be either. And if it got back to my family...You didn't consort willingly with the Knights when you were a Diamond. You just didn't. It was one of the biggest family betrayals you could ever commit, right after selling your family out and before stealing the illegally imported goods.

What I knew was that it wasn't going to end well if it was discovered that I had gone to see Katie. While it was possible my mom would understand, I couldn't get way from the look on Shane's face when he had accused me of having feelings for her. And Dad? I wasn't too sure he would be all that open minded about it either.

So it was much better if I kept my...attraction, or whatever the hell it was...to the baby Knight under wraps. One day I would look back on it and laugh, but until that happened, I had to get through this. Clearly I was having a mental breakdown. Clearly. But I figured I might as well humor myself until I worked it out.

I arrived at the warehouses and parked, climbing out and strolling towards the entrance to warehouse 3D. That, by the way, is D for Diamond.

By this point, you're probably wondering how we can import illegal goods, like drugs and non-standard booze, without getting arrested and thrown in front of a jury. It's pretty basic. We simply bought of almost anyone who could cause trouble for us. And those who we couldn't buy off, we dug dirt up on them and informed them that if they arrested us, their own scandals would be coming right out into the open. Plus, we imported legal items as well, and we kept those out in sight, whereas the other, more risky stuff was stored in the back, in huge, padlocked, official looking crates.

Anyway, it was because of us, the Knights, and the Stetsons that the town was so prosperous in the first place. We supply a lot of the businesses around here, since we can get the stores and restaurants pretty much whatever they need. And since most politicians are pretty corrupt in any case, as long as we back them during their campaigns, and we make sure to sell them the kind of stuff they would not want to be caught buying, keeping everything closeted, they have no problem with us basically running the area.

The only time there's ever really a conflict is when the three mob families end up warring with each other. I mean, we're all at odds with each other. But there are times when the feuds are worse. We'd actually been going through a fighting downtime with the Knights and Stetsons, but after last night, I had a feeling the war was going to be kicked into high gear.

The prospect was not a pleasant one.

I fingered the handgun I had slipped into the waistband of my jeans, a reminder that it was there.

It was always a little nerve whacking overseeing shipment arrivals; there had been more than one time when the transporters had turned rogue on us and tried to kill us so that they could take the shipments for themselves.

Just goes to show you can't even trust your employees.

A couple minutes later, a neon orange Slug Bug parked in front of the warehouse, and Carlos Garcia hopped out, waving cheerfully at me. "Hey, James!" he called. "This ought to be interesting!" He beamed at me as he hurried in my direction, and I smiled back, feeling a little bit more at ease as I took in the sight of him with his baggy purple sweatshirt and the ever present helmet atop of his head. He was like a cannon ball, completely unstoppable when it came to protecting his family and friends. As long as we were in the same general area, I would always be as safe as I could get. His basic job was to help me make sure that nothing went wrong when we were moving the crates into the warehouse, but he was also there for protection, which was nice.

Nevertheless, I narrowed my eyes when I saw a semi pull up in front of the warehouses. The trailer flaps opened a moment later, and two men climbed out of the cab. The warehouse employees immediately swarmed them, and I walked towards them, ready to inspect the goods.

Crates were torn open so that Carlos and I could look inside, ticking each item off on the list my dad had given me as we walked through the trailer. We went through the process, taking careful inventory of each container, before I nodded in satisfaction. "Looks good here."

We jumped back down together and watched as the crates were hauled into the warehouse, directing everyone to the very back, where the crates were supposed to be stored.

Not an hour later, a tall man with dark hair, cool, calculating eyes, and a thinly trimmed mustache pulled up in a black Mercedes Benz. I recognized him at once as Mayor Greenfield's Henchman Number One.

I snapped my fingers and immediately, the warehouse employees moved to stand around me, providing me with a small army and a look of intimidation, if I needed it. Carlos stood by my side, patting his helmet while fingering what I knew to be his gun under his sweatshirt.

Henchman Number One, along with two body guards, made his way over to us. I raised an eyebrow.

"We weren't expecting you today," I informed him. "You're lucky we just got a new shipment in. What do you need?"

He named off several types of booze, and I nodded. "We'll see if we can locate it. Once again, we weren't expecting you."

"The mayor will pay you double for what it's actually worth," he said. "He's desperate. He's having a dinner party in two days, and he really needs people to be in a good mood."

My lip twitched. Ah, yes, no doubt he was going to be using the dinner party to chat everyone up and insist that they help with his new campaign, something about something that involved money; I really wasn't too clear on what it was.

We managed to locate the bottles of booze, and Henchman Number One passed me the money. I counted it out carefully, before holding it up to the light to make sure it wasn't counterfeit. You can never be too careful, especially when you're dealing with a corrupt mayor.

Once Henchman Number One and body guards one and two were on their way, Carlos I headed back to our car. I drove home, reported to my dad how it went, and made my way up to my room, where I took care of additional business from my computer and through my phone.

My eyes kept wandering to my computer's clock, checking it every couple of minutes, hoping that another hour would have ticked away while I was typing something into the Google search bar. All I wanted to do was get out of here and go see Katie again, or at the very least call to check on her, make sure she was still at the hospital, make sure she was all right.

Once I had finished what I needed to do, I got to my feet and changed clothes, from the jeans and t-shirt I had been wearing into sweatpants, a tank top, and running shoes. I headed down to the basement gym, where I worked off some excess energy, my iPod blaring in my ears as I ran on the treadmill and lifted weights.

By the time I was finished, I was drenched in sweat and panting for breath, but damn, if it didn't feel good. Back up the stairs I went, taking a quick shower and getting redressed, before looking at my phone. My eyebrows raised as I realized I had a text from an ex girlfriend, Meena Cooper:

**Hey babe! Been thinking about you and I miss you a lot. Can we meet up sometime?**

I quickly responded: **Sorry, but I'm pretty busy. And since you cheated on me, I don't have any wishes to see you. Bye.** I sent the text off and tossed my phone on my bed. She was lucky she had even gotten a reply. Probably I shouldn't have texted her back, since this wasn't the first time she had tried to get in touch with me, but I just wasn't a big fan of leaving people hanging without an answer. I hated when it happened to me, so I tried to spare other people the confusion.

At last, it was time for dinner, which would hopefully be a distraction. I hurried downstairs to join my family in the dining room.

I did my best to keep up with everyone's conversations while we ate, with Dad talking about the new security measures he was taking to ensure that the house wouldn't be invaded again, Mom chatting about a new line she was working on, and Shane yapping about a concert he and Chelsea were going to be going to the next evening. I occasionally said something to add to the conversation, but for the most part I just zoned out, thinking about Katie.

It was ridiculous how obsessed with her I was. Seriously, I probably really would have to be committed for my obsessive compulsive tendencies with her. It was driving me insane, and yet I couldn't even begin to wish that it was different. I just wanted to be with her again, to be sitting on her bed, to talk to her.

I had no idea if she would even want to see me tonight, but I knew that if she was still in the hospital, then I was going to go see her.

And that was that.

At last, dinner was over. I helped clear the table, before dashing back up to my room. It was after eight now, and I figured it was late enough to call the hospital to make sure Katie was still in. Or maybe I should just hack into her files instead...For all I knew, she had been moved to another room, and as last night have proven, they weren't going to give me that information if I dialed the front desk.

So hacking into their database would be my better option.

I hurried to my dad's office. Luckily, just as it had been the night before, it was empty, so I quickly locked myself in and got onto his computer, once more getting into the hospital's records. I found Katie's file, did a quick glance through it, and nodded in satisfaction. She was still there, and still in the same room as the night before. Good.

Visiting hours were over, so I knew that I would have to sneak in, just like I had last night. But it seemed that there was a less likely chance that Katie's room would be guarded if visitors weren't being admitted, so I figured getting into her room would be easier than it would have been otherwise.

Dad left the house a little while later to go do some more searching for whoever had blown up Kendall Knight's car, while Shane headed over to Chelsea's house to watch a movie and Mom retired to her room to try to get through a novel she'd been attempting to read for the past couple of weeks.

I seized my opportunity and slipped my leather jacket on and grabbed my car keys and wallet, before slipping down to the garage and into my Dodge Challenger. I drove to the hospital and parked in a secluded area. I hurried into the hospital lobby. The receptionist was on the phone with her back turned to me, so I tip toed by her and into the elevator.

I reached Katie's floor a moment later and peeked out into the hall. A nurse was passing by, so I quickly flattened myself against the elevator's side wall. Once she had passed, I stepped out, hearing my sneakers squeak slightly against the rubber floor and immediately winced, hoping fervently that it didn't give my presence away.

I made my way down the hall to Katie's room. No security guards stood there, so I put my hand on the doorknob, hesitating for a moment, before turning it and opening the door.

Katie was sitting up in her bed this time, her bedside lamp on while her TV blared. I caught a glimpse of _The Vampire Diaries_ on the screen before she turned to face me. She smiled slightly as she took in my appearance. "I wondered if you were going to show up."

"Should I apologize?" I asked as I closed the door behind me.

She shook her head. "Nope. I was hoping you would."

I smiled a little. "Really? Why?"

She just grinned in response, before looking me up and down. "Black leather jacket, huh? How very badass of you. Very sexy."

My own grin spread over my face and I tugged at the collar. "Yeah? You like it?"

"Very much. You should wear it more often."

"I think I might have been wearing it last night."

"Well, if you were, I didn't know. It was dark, so..."

"Right, yeah."

"So, are you just going to stand there, or are you going to come over and sit with me? You're the first visitor I've had today who isn't a family member."

I crossed the room and sank down onto the bed beside her. She immediately shifted a couple of inches closer. Her hair was pulled into two low pigtails, and her makeup had been completely removed. This was my first time seeing her when she look completely natural, and I didn't have any complaints. Even without her usual eyeliner, mascara, and lip gloss, she looked absolutely beautiful.

I was pretty sure I could literally feel myself falling even harder for her.

"What?" she brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face. "Do I look that bad? I mean, I know I've been in a hospital bed for the past twenty-four hours, but give me a break, I almost got blown up last night and - "

"Katie." I stopped her. "You look beautiful."

"Really?" she eyed me suspiciously. "Are you just saying that? I mean, I'm all bruised and scraped up and - "

"You still look beautiful. You look natural. Haven't you ever heard that guys like the natural look more?"

"Sure, but I always thought that was just bullshit, a lie designed to make females feel better about themselves. My boyfriends have always preferred me with makeup."

"Well, they're stupid. You don't need makeup. You're the most gorgeous girl I've ever seen without it. I mean, you were anyway, but...yeah, without it..."

Her cheeks tinged a light pink. "Thanks. That's - that's really sweet."

I gave her a small, unsure smile, before my eyes drifted up to her right temple. A large, dark bruise spanned across it and dipped slightly down into her eyebrow. I let out a low whistle. "That looks nasty."

"I know, I saw it in the bathroom mirror. I guess that's where I landed or something when I was knocked down. You know, when the car exploded."

I nodded. "Wouldn't surprise me. Does it hurt?"

"Like a bitch. I can't wait for it to heal. I look like I banged my head against the brick wall that leads into Diagon Alley."

I perked up at the _Harry Potter_ reference. "Maybe more like against the barrier that leads to Platform nine and three quarters."

She laughed. "Maybe. Or maybe I got hit with Dobby's rogue bludger."

I grinned. "Or you flew into the Whomping Willow."

"Man, it's so easy to get hurt in the wizarding world." She shook her head. "Probably a good thing I don't live in that universe, otherwise I'd be so screwed."

"Same here. It can be hard enough surviving here."

"Tell me about it. Anyway, how was your day?"

I shrugged. "Not too bad. How was yours?"

"Boring. And the rumors are true about hospital food - it sucks rocks. Sheesh. Would it be so hard to just let me have a taco?"

I looked at her. "Isn't there a Mexican takeout place down the street?"

She shrugged. "I think so."

"What kind do you like?"

"Any kind, I'm not picky."

I grinned again. "I'll be back in a little while," I told her. "If they lock you in, don't let them do that."

"But - wait - where are you going?"

I just waved at her and hurried out. I drove down to _Mucho Grande Tacos_, and ordered a large bag of them along with a couple to-go orders of rice and beans. I brought everything back to the hospital. I discovered when I parked that there was a back entrance to the hospital that the nurses, doctors, and interns more than likely used to slip outside during their breaks, so I quickly scampered through it.

I dashed back up to Katie's room, letting myself in again and shutting the door behind me.

She was waiting for me, still sitting upright in bed. Her eyes went to the large paper bag I was carrying, and I distinctly heard her stomach growl.

"You got tacos?"

"And rice and beans," I told her, passing her the bag.

"Oh my God, I fucking love you," she cried as she pulled out a chicken taco and a couple of napkins. She unwrapped it and bit into it. "Holy fuck, this is sooo good. That's it, you're my favorite person in the whole world and this taco place is my favorite place ever."

I chuckled as I got out a beef one and took a bite. "Glad I could help."

"I don't think I can ever eat tacos at any other place after this," she moaned. "I'm ruined for life."

We spent the next hour devouring the tacos and rice and beans. I slipped back out of her room to throw the bag in the trash can in the men's restroom, before getting a couple bottles of water out of a vending machine a little ways past Katie's room. I returned with the water and handed her one. She opened it and sighed happily, before laying down and curling up under the covers.

"I really don't get why you're being so nice to me," she told me once I was sitting beside her again.

I shrugged. "I don't entirely understand it either."

"Well, until your motives prove to be less than stellar, I'm going to enjoy your niceness."

"Sounds like a plan," I agreed.

She scooted back and patted the pillow beside her. "Lay down."

I did so, kicking my shoes off in the process, and rolled over to face her.

She reached out, outlining my cheekbone with her finger, dark eyes intense. I let her, my own eyes closing softly as I leaned into her touch.

"I don't get you," she said quietly after a moment. "And I don't get us."

"That makes two of us."

"Are you going to keep coming here?"

"Depends

How long are you going to be in here?"

"A couple more days at least. My dad wants to make sure no health issues pop up, and I'm still recovering from my concussion, plus I got burned pretty badly in a couple places. So it's more just for observation than anything else."

"Makes sense."

"I guess. I can't wait to be out here. Or...I don't know."

"Hmm?"

She bit her lip. "It's nothing."

"No, tell me."

Her finger slid down to my jaw line. "It's just, once I'm out of the hospital, you're not going to be able to come and visit me anymore. And, as much as I hate to say it, I kind of like you."

"I kind of like you too."

"Think we can manage to be friends once I'm out of the hospital?" she asked me.

I raised an eyebrow, while raising my hand to catch the finger that was still touching me. "Is that all we're going to be?"

"You can answer that as well as I can," she replied. "Our situation's a lot more...complicated...then most people's."

"Tell me about it. If I'm not careful, I could get killed by your dad's employees on my way home."

"Exactly. I don't know what to do."

"I don't either," I said slowly. "But I guess we'll figure it out as we go along."

She smiled slightly. "Sounds like a good plan."

"Good."

* * *

_**So, if the format's weird for this, blame my new computer. Anyway, what'd you guys think? Things are starting to get interesting for James and Katie, and Carlos was officially introduced! Whoo Hoo! So, feel free to tell me what your thoughts, feelings, opinions, and whatnot are on this or the videos I mentioned in my first A/N (although, really, any video is fine with me :P). The review button and I would both really, really appreciate it sooooooooo much ;)**_


	8. Chapter 8: Suspicion and Intrusion

_**Disclaimer: Always the painful part...I...do...not...own...Big Time Rush...or anything you recognize in this chapter. Okay? Okay.**_

_**Guest: I take it you liked the last chapter? Thank you for reviewing! :)**_

_**James is mine: Hope this is soon enough for you :) Ouch! I hope your sunburn gets better. Sunburns are just awful no matter what :\ Thank you for reviewing!**_

_**As always, THANK YOU to everyone who has read, followed, favorited, or reviewed this story! Your support means the world to me, and I honestly don't know what I'd do without it. So THANK YOU!**_

_**Warnings: Innuendos, language, minor gun violence, mentions of illegal activity, and mentions of a certain Nazi prick uncle.**_

_**Enjoy the chapter!**_

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Suspicion and Intrusion**

**James' POV**

I stayed with Katie until she fell asleep, just as I had the night before. With a sigh, I untangled myself from her, softly kissed her forehead, and crept out of the room.

I headed down to the parking lot, through the backdoor I had found, and did a quick check for bombs and evil henchmen before climbing in and driving home.

I parked in the garage and crept inside. Before I could reach the stairs, however, a light flickered on and there stood Shane in his plaid pajama pants and a white t-shirt, his arms crossed. "Where were you?"

"Out," I replied.

"Right. I'm sure," he said coldly.

Rolling my eyes, I pushed past him, making a beeline for the stairs. Before I could get past Shane, however, he grabbed my arm and jerked me with enough force that I almost stumbled into him.

"Admit it," he hissed. "You've been to see the baby Knight."

I squared my shoulders, sticking out my chin determinedly. "Is it really any of your business?" I demanded.

He set his jaw, letting me know that he wasn't backing down from this. I could see dark shading under his eyes and a purple shadow of stubble around his jaw and cheeks. "It is when it puts our whole family on the line," he replied quietly. "And this - you going to visit her in the hospital - this does. It's dangerous and stupid and reckless and letting yourself get involved with a Knight..." he shook his head.

"I'm not involved with her! I just...I don't know...it's hard to explain."

"Look, I get being attracted to her, you can't help that. But you're not helping yourself by going to visit her, not in the least. All you're doing is setting a time bomb for yourself. When you two inevitably fall apart, the war between us and the Knights is going to be worse than ever. Are you seriously prepared to deal with the consequences?"

"Who says we're even going to end up dating?" I retorted furiously.

"Fine - sleeping together. Because we all know it's going to happen."

"We don't know that. And you don't get to lecture me on staying loyal to my family. I'd choose them over Katie Knight any day, but there are other circumstances in the mix now. And if you don't like it, then that's too fucking bad." And with that, I stormed up the stairs to my room.

I barely saw Shane the next day. He had his concert with Chels, so they left early so that they could drive down to Minneapolis. They were staying overnight in a hotel and would be back home the following morning. I spoke to him long enough to tell him to have fun, and he gave me a curt nod before getting into the car with Chelsea.

Obviously he was still pissed at me.

That was fine. I was still pretty angry with him.

I spent the day helping Jess do some filing for my dad. He was infamous for taking disorganization to an extreme, and it regularly fell upon Jessica to get his cabinets and folders and files reorganized.

"So, what's going on with you and Shane?" she asked as she worked on alphabetizing the files that dealt with the imported booze. "Chels texted me and said you two seemed really mad at each other. I mean, I know you're brothers and you're going to fight, but...she said it felt different than the usual bickering."

I sighed. "It's a long story."

"James, we probably have until next month." She gestured to the mess that surrounded us. "So spill. What's going on?"

I paused for a moment, licking my lips nervously as I rearranged the firearm files, before breaking out into the story, explaining to her how attached I was getting to Katie and how I was sneaking out to go and see her in the hospital, that Shane had caught me coming in the night before. I also, a little hesitantly, mentioned the agreement Katie and I had come to the night before

I finally fell silent, letting my head fall as I focused on filing.

There was a long moment where we were both quiet, but finally Jess said, "Well, Shane's being stupid. You can't help how you feel. Clearly you care about her, and that's not going to change. Maybe going to see her is feeding your obsession, but it sounds like you'd be going crazy if you didn't. There really isn't an easy answer here, James. All I can tell you to do is to do what feels right to you."

I glanced up at her. "Really?"

She nodded. "I haven't seen you and Katie together, but from what you and Chelsea and Shane have told me, you two have intense, insane chemistry. It'd be a huge shame if it went to waste."

I smiled slightly, and she smiled back. "And if you don't want your family to find out, I'll cover for you, and I'm sure Chelsea will too. Maybe we can change Shane's mind as well. I think he's just scared that you're attraction to Katie will get out of hand."

I snorted. "Like it hasn't already?"

"What I mean is, is that it gets so bad that you'd betray your family just to be with her. And, I'm not going to lie, but you do have a habit of falling for the wrong girls...Girls who cheat on you or treat you like a slave or max out your credit card. Though I can't see Katie doing any of those things, simply because she wouldn't need to. So, I guess my point is, is to be careful, no matter what. Because Shane is right - if you do end up dating and then you break up, things are going to be even worse for your families."

I nodded. "I know that. Believe me, I do. And I don't know what's going to happen with Katie."

"Well, hopefully you'll get your answer soon." Jessica smiled at me again. "It's going to be okay."

"You sure? Because I think if Kevin Knight were to find out that I was seeing his daughter, he'd go after me."

She shrugged. "Well, okay, your family feud might get even worse. But that's really just a worst case scenario. I wouldn't worry about it too much."

"Okay," I gave in. "Yeah, I guess I just need to focus on the positives."

"Exactly. You going to go back tonight?"

"I'm planning on it."

"Okay. Lots of luck."

"Thanks. Hopefully I won't need it, but..."

"Yeah." She let out a breath, puffing out her cheeks. "Seriously, how does your dad manage to get the A files mixed up with the G ones?"

I grinned. "It's a talent of his."

"Obviously."

* * *

**Katie's POV**

Here's the thing about being a patient in a hospital - it's boring. I literally had nothing to do. Or, at least that's what it felt like.

My parents had brought me books, along with my iPad and iPod, and I had TV, but I was still restless. I was allowed to see Kendall, and we ended up having lunch on the terrace overlooking the sprawling park behind the hospital.

"I can't wait to be out of this fucking place," Kendall groaned as he poked at his sandwich. "The food sucks, the TV shows suck, and there's nothing to do. Wish Dad would let us sign out."

I pressed my lips together. Half of me agreed with Kendall, but the other half of me was terrified about what would happen once I signed out of the hospital and returned home. When that happened, seeing James was going to be quite a bit harder, and while I usually liked a challenge, that one seemed a little too stupid and reckless for my taste. That wasn't to say that I wasn't going to try, because I totally was, but I was still pretty hesitant about it. From what Mom and Dad had told me, Uncle Felix was still hanging around our house, and he was already suspicious that I was...interested...in James Diamond. I didn't need him nosing around my private business, and that was exactly what was going to happen if I wasn't careful. It wasn't a happy thought.

It also occurred to me that if James and I were going to try to stay in touch with each other, we'd have to figure out a way to communicate. I was pretty sure texting and calling each other was out, because my dad kept a pretty close eye on our phone bills, reports, and statuses, so he would probably figure out pretty quickly what was happening. And no, it wasn't because he didn't trust me. It was just that there had been people in the past who had tried to get to him through Kendall and me, so he liked to make sure we weren't being used. And the second an unfamiliar number popped up on the report he got every couple of weeks from our phone company, he was going to trace it.

However, my mom had insisted that anything outside phone calls and texts should be private, especially since it could be a lot more difficult to track e-mail addresses and such. So e-mailing each other would probably work...Maybe Facetiming if we added each other on Facebook...Even Skyping...IMing...We did have some possibilities outside of texting and calling each other at least, so that was good to know, even though, due to recent developments in the Felix Knight department, I wasn't sure my laptop would be safe anymore.

But it was entirely possible that James was going to back out, that he wasn't really that into me, and that the second I started talking about the different ways to communicate with each other he would run as fast as he could for the hills.

I just hoped I had read him right, and that I wasn't going to wind up being disappointed and hurt.

But he had told me I was beautiful...wouldn't that count for something?

I sighed softly. I sounded like a twelve year old girl who had just flirted with a boy for the very first time. I was so hopeless.

"Katie?" Kendall snapped his fingers in front of my face. "Helloooo...feel free to come back to earth at any time."

I blinked at him. "What? Sorry...I guess I zoned out."

"Seems that way. What's up?"

"Nothing. Just thinking about some stuff."

"Such as?"

"Such as...does it ever bother you that Dad keeps track of who we call and text?"

He paused, but slowly nodded. "Yeah...I mean, I get why he does it, I do. But we're both adults and we're not exactly stupid. It seems like he should be able to trust us enough to choose who we want in our lives. It's not really up to him, you know? As long as we're careful about who we become friends with and who we date, then there shouldn't be a problem."

"Exactly," I agreed. "And you know Felix will be even worse. Mom told me yesterday that he's thinking about setting our computers up so that he can see what we're _all_ doing. I mean, this isn't a Totalitarian society, Kendall. It's none of his fucking business what we're doing online, or who we're talking to."

"I know. And we need to talk to Dad about it, because he's the only one who can stop him. I don't want to be monitored by him. This isn't Soviet Russia. Someone needs to knock some reality into Felix."

I nodded. "Definitely."

Once we finished lunch, we headed back inside. Our parents had already come to visit us, and since Dad was still looking for the person who had blown up Kendall's car, he probably wouldn't be back until tomorrow. Mom had opted to stay at home and keep an eye on Felix, to make sure he didn't do anything without Dad's consent, though I wasn't sure that was actually going to stop him.

Kendall and I retired to our rooms, and I settled into my bed, completely dreading the nine or ten hour wait I would have to go through until James showed up. If he even did. Dad had always said that the Diamonds couldn't be trusted, and I was still wondering if he hadn't been right. For all I knew, James was just going to completely blow me off. And while I didn't actually believe he would, I couldn't be positive. He was James Diamond, and he was the enemy, no matter how many tacos he bought me, or how often he came to see me.

Around five-o-clock, there was a light tap on the door, and when I looked up, I beamed. "Logie!"

Logan Mitchell, Kendall's best friend, was standing in the doorway. "Hey, Katie," he greeted me as he walked over to get me a quick hug. "How're you doing?"

"I've been better, but I'm not unconscious, so that's something. How about you?"

"Not bad. Sorry I haven't come to see you, I've been following leads for your dad and spending time with Camille. She would have come with me, but she had work. She says to tell you hi, though. Well, her and Stephanie and Jo. If you're still in here tomorrow, they'll probably come to see you, since they have the day off."

I smiled. "Yay. I'm looking forward to it."

"Good, they'll be glad to hear it. They miss you and they were worried about you. Here." He handed me a hot pink envelope with hearts and smiley faces drawn all over the back. Etched in the very middle in huge letters were the words, _GET WELL SOON, KATIE!_

I chuckled. "Tell them thanks from me."

"Open it," he urged, taking a seat in the chair beside me.

I did so, gently peeling the flap back and pulling the card out. I read the front and then opened it, three different gift cards tumbling out and into my lap: A _Starbucks_ one, a _La Belle_ one, and one that would allow me to have a small shopping spree for any phone or phone accessory I wanted. I knew that one was from Stephanie, as she was always complaining that I had no freedom. It was her way of hinting that I rebel against my dad and uncle and get a new phone. And that was exactly what I was going to do if I couldn't get Dad to change his mind about keeping an eye on Kendall's and my phones.

"Oh, and I have one for you too," Logan added, reaching into his jacket and pulling out an App store gift card. "I figure you probably need some new games or videos or music by now."

I smiled. "Thanks, I definitely do."

"You're welcome." His phone beeped and he pulled it out, before muttering "Crap" under his breath.

"What is it?" I asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Your uncle is demanding that I get security cameras."

"For what...?"

"What do you think?"

"For the house?"

"The inside of the house. He's insane, he's fucking insane. I've got to go find your dad and let him know. I'll see you later, Katie." He hugged me again before rushing out, leaving me all alone once again.

The hours went by slowly. I had dinner with Kendall, though it was pretty tasteless.

At last, visiting hours were over and I hurried into the bathroom. Not a lot of beauty-ing up I could do in a hospital bathroom, but I wanted to make sure I didn't look like the Loch Ness monster.

I took a quick shower and pulled my hair into pigtails once again, before climbing back into bed and flipping on the TV.

As the minutes ticked by, my stomach clenched and unclenched, and I found my nerves and anxiety skyrocketing. I had no idea what I was going to do if James didn't show up. And I didn't even want to think about it.

The DVD player's clock ticked to 10:31 PM, and I bit my lip, clutching my blankets.

And then the door was creeping open, and my gaze snapped to it. James slipped into the room, closing the door behind him. "Hey."

I felt a wide smile stretch across my face. "Hey."

He held up a bag from _Mucho Grande Tacos_. "I would've been here sooner, except I had to make a pit stop. And I also got their churros."

My mouth watered. "You're definitely my favorite person ever."

He grinned as he crossed the room. "You hungry?"

"Duh. Like I said last night, the hospital food sucks. I need real food, dude, I'm a growing girl."

James chuckled as he passed me the bag. "How long have you been...how tall are you?"

"I'm five foot one, and I last grew when I was...um...about fifteen. And I grew an inch..."

His lips twitched in amusement. "I see."

I pouted at him, before pulling a taco out of the bag. "So, how's your day been?"

"Okay. Had a fight with Shane last night when I got home, but nothing too important. And I helped Jessica with filing."

"Sounds...well, still more interesting than my day."

"I'm sure. Being stuck in a hospital has got to suck."

"You have no idea." I took a bite of my taco, moaning happily. This place definitely had the best tacos I had ever had. "You know what I want to do one day?"

"Hmm?" He grabbed a box of churros out of the bag and popped it open, snatching one up.

"I want to go down to Mexico and try their food, see how different it is from ours."

"I'm pretty sure they're on two different plains," James informed me as he popped the churro into his mouth. "From what I've heard, Midwest Mexican and Chinese food is pretty awful. I guess once you get onto the coasts it gets better. At least, that's what I've been told. But it'd be interesting to find that out first hand."

I nodded in agreement. "And I love Japanese and Thai and Vietnamese food, but the only time I've had it is when we go into the larger cities. I love Pho," I added. "And curry."

James bobbed his head as he started on a taco. "Cherry Lake needs more, better restaurants. We're serious lacking. I love when I have business that takes me into the city, because that gives me the chance to eat something different than the usual Cherry Lake grub."

I giggled. "You make it sound like we're a bunch of hicks from the sticks."

"Don't make me do my hick accent," he grinned. "You'll regret it if you do."

I laughed harder. "You're ridiculous, you know that?"

"I've heard it once or twice. But you have to have a sense of humor in this business. It can get so serious that if you can't laugh at yourself or at other things, you're going to go insane."

"Like my uncle...I'm pretty sure he's insane."

"Felix?"

"Yeah. He's decided he wants to monitor what everyone does on the computer at my house. And apparently he wants to install security cameras in the house. Pretty sure it's not to catch someone if they're breaking in."

James stared at me. "Are you serious?"

"Very. He's such a prick. And my dad isn't always that much better. He keeps track on who Kendall and I call and text."

"Wow..."

"Yeah. Like, I get being protective, but it's not fair. Kendall and I are old enough to choose who we're friends with and who we date."

"Uh, you're eating with the enemy's son," James pointed out.

"Yeah, but you saved my life. And you didn't kill me when you had the chance. So that's got to say something about you."

"I'd hope so. Well, if it makes you feel any better, Shane and I fought because I'd gone to see you."

My eyebrows skyrocketed. "Oh. Wow."

"Yeah. He thinks I'm betraying the family by having anything to do with you."

"And what do you think?"

"Until I start giving away family secrets and business information, there shouldn't be a problem."

I nodded. "Agreed. See, that's the problem with this business and with the family feud. No one trusts anyone else. I don't even trust you. I mean, I do to a point, because you saved my life and you've visited me more than my friends have, but not...not as much as I would otherwise."

He smirked darkly. "Believe me, I don't trust you completely, either. I like you, but if I thought you were dangerous..."

"Same goes with you."

He finished off his taco. "Well, at least we're agreed on that."

"Right." I started on my own box of churros, humming.

James and I finished the food in silence, neither saying anything. It didn't feel awkward though, just...not really comfortable. More like there was a lot of things that we hadn't said, that needed to be voiced. Such as how much I missed him. How much he was really giving up to be here with me. What we would do once I was out of the hospital.

As he had done the night before, James crept out of my room to throw the bag away, and then returned. We snuggled in next to each other, and I shut my lamp off. His arms encircled my waist, his hand rubbing small circles into my lower back, and I closed my eyes. I could feel the heat from his hand through the thin fabric of my hospital nightgown, burning into my skin. I pushed closer, wedging myself against him, needing, craving, to be nearer, and his fingers dug into my sides, sliding down to my hips.

It would be so easy to just raise my head and kiss him...so easy...let things lead where they may...Once we stopped, I knew we never would...God, I wanted it so badly...

And then a beam of light began to trail its way across the floor. I pulled back from James and my eyes widened as I realized that the door was opening...By the moonlight shining into my room through the un-curtained window, I could see a figure, dressed all in black, their face covered in a ski mask, moving across my room. And then there was a shot, and I instinctively ducked back, the bullet landing exactly where my head had been two seconds earlier.

James reacted quicker than I ever could, rolling off of the bed and landing neatly on his feet, his gun out of the waistband of his jeans and in his hand faster than I could blink, and a shot fired from his own gun, missing but still drawing up close as the figure dodged and dashed out of my room. James was through the doorway in a split second, and I could hear the soles of his sneakers pounding on the floor as he pursued my attacker.

My heart was pounding and I had broken out into a cold sweat. I couldn't stay in this bed, not with the bullet there.

I managed to get out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. I fought back the nausea that was creeping up, struggling to get myself under control. I turned the tap on and splashed my face with icy cold water, knocking me out of my haze.

I took in a deep breath, shaking violently. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God...

"Katie?"

James was back. He walked into the bathroom and hesitated as he took me in. "I'd ask if you're okay, but that kind of sounds like a stupid question."

"I'm - I'm not really sure..."

He walked over to me and scooped me up, carrying me bridal style back to the bed. I hid my face in his shoulder, refusing to look at the bullet that had managed to land harmlessly on my pillow.

"I'm going to take this," James said softly to me, nuzzling the top of my head with his cheek. "I'm going to take the bullet and run a ballistics test on it, see if I can figure out where it came from. Okay?"

"Mmm hmm."

"Okay." He slowly lowered himself down onto my bed with me still in his arms, holding me tightly. "Whoever it was who shot at you got away. They just disappeared. I don't know how."

"Just like with whoever blew up Kendall's car."

"Yeah, exactly." He paused, before pulling back to look at me. "Kendall's room is just down the hall from here, isn't it?"

I nodded.

"Go and check on him...And I need to get out of here, I'm sure the gunshots alerted hospital security."

I clung to him. "Please...don't leave..."

He stroked my hair. "If you're still here, I'll be back tomorrow night."

"No," I whimpered, like a child who was clinging to her mom. "I need you...please stay...Hide. You can hide until the security is gone. Please?" I looked up at him, and he nodded.

"All right."

He was right. Security did show up at my room about two minutes later. By that time, James had left my room and was dodging anyone who might cause trouble for him. He'd grabbed his own bullet to make sure no one found it.

The security guards also checked on Kendall, who was still alive and confused.

Security hunted for the bullet, but since they couldn't find it, they were forced to give up. However, I did assure them that there had been someone who had taken a shot at me - I just didn't know where the bullet could have ended up, it was all a blur.

Eventually, they left my room, and a few minutes later James came back in. He crawled into bed with me and I snuggled into him, burying my face in his chest. He held me, not saying a word, but it was enough. Before long, I was drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

_**So all of the guys have made an appearance and actually talked! And you guys got to see Kendall again :) So...what did you think of the chapter? Katie got shot at, James tried to catch the guy, and generally they're just getting hit left and right with stuff. I'm really hoping you guys enjoyed it, and the review button and I would really love it if you felt like leaving a review :) **_


	9. Chapter 9: Like Oil and Water

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush, and I never have and probably never will.**_

_**KnylonMaslow: Thank you for your reviews for both chapters 7 and 8! Hope the mention of the pancakes didn't actually make you hungry. James definitely was protecting Katie :) Thank you for taking the time to review both chapters! I really appreciate it.**_

_**THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, followed, or read this story! I always get so excited when I get a new follow, favorite, or review alert.**_

_**This chapter was supposed to be up a month ago, but I got blocked, and I ended up having the majority of the chapter, and even part of the story around before I could get this chapter finished. I'm sorry for the wait, and hopefully you guys won't have to wait so long for the next update :) As for the chapter...like I said, it didn't go the way I thought it was going to go. So just keep that in mind, okay? Thanks :)**_

_**Warnings: Language and mild violence.**_

_**Enjoy the chapter :)**_

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Like Oil and Water**

**Katie's POV**

I had expected James to sneak out in the middle of the night, like he had done the last two times he had been here. But when I woke up at five in the morning, needing to use the bathroom, James was still holding me, conked out beside me.

I smiled a little at the sight. He looked adorable and peaceful asleep, and somehow seemed younger. When he was awake, underneath the smirks and jokes, there was a certain hardness that I knew had come from being in the family business. But when he was sound asleep, his features were softer, more relaxed.

I carefully creeped out from under his arms and scurried into the bathroom. I did my business and washed my hands, before walking back out.

I eyed James, wondering if I should wake him up or not. I was pretty sure my parents wouldn't even arrive at the hospital before ten, and the nurses and doctors probably wouldn't check on me until around nine or so, but was it really worth it to risk it?

The answer was easy and simple: Yes.

It was worth it just to wake up next to him with his arms around me. To get to see the way his hair fell into his eyes. To be able to witness him when he was at his most vulnerable.

I didn't want to ruin this. I had no idea if I would ever get this again, and I wanted to savor every single second.

He shifted slightly, sighing in his sleep, and I let out a breath as I crawled back into bed beside him. He immediately snuggled closer to me, and I smiled again, curling into him. He was warm and hard and firm and felt perfect against me. Why did he have to be the enemy's son?

I sighed as I closed my eyes again, relaxing against him. Before long, I was drifting off into dreamland.

The next time I woke up was to movement beside me. I slowly opened my eyes and blinked in the bright sunlight streaming into my room. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, but once I could see normally again, I realized that James was slipping his feet into his sneakers and pulling on his leather jacket.

I sat up, running my fingers through my hair, pushing it back. "What time is it?"

"Seven-thirty. Go back to sleep, baby girl."

I smiled slightly. Baby girl, huh?

"What?" he asked when he realized I was still watching him.

"You called me baby girl."

He blinked, before shrugging, shoulders bulging underneath his leather jacket. "Yeah, I guess I did."

"So, does that make me your baby girl?"

"It makes you more my baby girl than anyone else's."

My smile widened, and he smiled back.

There was a long pause, and then he cleared his throat. "I really do need to get going…"

"Right…Um…I might be let out of the hospital today…"

"Okay."

"So…I don't really know how we're going to do this…"

"I'll give you my e-mail address," he suggested. "That should be private enough. It's my none-business one." He grabbed a notepad and a pen from the bedside table and scribbled it down. "If you get out of the hospital or your room changes, let me know."

"Okay," I agreed, taking the notepad from him.

James nodded and leaned over, pressing his lips to my forehead. My eyes closed inadvertently, and his lips lingered for a few seconds, before pulling back. "I'll see you soon," he promised, before heading out.

I could only hope.

It was a good thing he had given me his e-mail address, because at ten-o-clock that morning, Kendall and I were both released from the hospital. My dad kept saying that he had a "weird feeling" that something had gone wacky last night, and he wanted us both out of there and in the safety of our own home.

It was a relief to step into the house after being away for several days, and Felix wasn't even there, so that added to the comfort. The first thing I did was get a bath running. I added lavender scented bath bubbles, before grabbing my phone and getting into my e-mail. I plugged James' e-mail address into my contacts and quickly typed in a message:

_**Hey, it's Katie. I was released from the hospital a little while ago. My dad sensed that something was screwy last night…Anyway, hope to see you soon. :)**_

I sent it and quickly deleted the message once I knew it had gone through, before heading back into the bathroom.

By the time I got out of the tub, James had e-mailed me back:

_**Probably a good thing…So…do you want to hang out anytime soon?**_

I smiled. Of course I did. Duh. I quickly replied:

_**Sure. You have a place in mind?**_

He must have been near his phone, because I had the response within less than a minute:

_**The lake. It's pretty much abandoned this time of year, and my parents have a lake house there. We could meet there if you want.**_

_**Sounds like a plan. When do you want to do this? Tonight or tomorrow?**_

_**Not tonight, Shane and Chelsea are demanding I spend time with them…I'm their safety blanket. Without me they might actually have to take the next step and then all hell will break loose. *Eye roll*. But tomorrow should work :)**_

_**They need to get together, their sexual tension is insane. And okay :) Nine PM?**_

_**Sounds good. I'll even bring a late dinner ;) Mucho Grande Tacos, anyone?**_

I giggled. _**Yeah, you're definitely my favorite person ever. See you then.**_

_**See you then.**_

I moved the e-mails to a password protected folder, and then made sure I deleted them from my e-mail, before letting out a tiny squeal. I wasn't sure if this was going to qualify as a date or what, but even if it didn't, it was still a step closer to actually getting together.

The only question was, were we ready to take that step?

I wasn't sure I could answer that. And the consequences…We were putting our families at risk. We were endangering them just by being friendly with each other. But what else could we do?

With a sigh I plopped down in front of my laptop and created a new e-mail address. Time to hide my tracks as best as I could.

* * *

**James' POV**

"So, what are our plans for tonight?" I asked as I joined Shane and Chels on the living room couch. They were watching a reality show, but Shane put it on mute as I sat down with them.

"We were just talking about that," Chels replied, scooting over so that I would have more room. "We're thinking dinner and then maybe that new romantic comedy?"

"I'm not going to go see a romantic comedy," Shane informed her. "Does this one have Julia Roberts in it?"

"Um…yeah…"

"I'm not going."

"What's wrong with Julia Roberts?"

"She's, like, the queen of romantic comedies."

Chelsea pouted. "What's wrong with romantic comedies?"

"Um, I'm a guy. I have testosterone and a dick and I'm male. It's the principle of the thing."

I nodded in agreement. "You wouldn't catch me going to see a romantic comedy. Choose something else."

Chels groaned. "Ugghhh…fine. How about that new fantasy thriller?"

"Sounds good to me," Shane chirped.

"Me too," I agreed.

"And hopefully the Knights won't show up so we won't actually have to worry about anyone getting blown up this time," Shane put in. "Although…" he eyed me. "You're not going to be meeting the baby Knight there, are you?"

"No. I doubt she'll be there, and if she is, then it won't be because of me. She does have a life outside of us, you know."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's going on with the baby Knight?" Chelsea demanded, straightening up and turning her body to face us both. "This sounds interesting. Spill."

"James began sneaking out to see Katie Knight when she was in the hospital," Shane told her. "I caught him coming back in at, like, two in the morning a couple nights ago."

"Awww!" Chels cooed. "That's so cute! I would love it if a guy did that for me. That's so romantic!"

I smirked. Hear that, Shane? I'm cute and romantic. You're the dumbstruck, unemotional loser.

"Under normal circumstances, it would be," Shane said in a would-be patient voice. "But it's Katie Knight, so it's not. It's dangerous. Not only is it a betrayal of our family, but it could put his life in danger – more danger than it already is, I mean. If Kevin Knight finds out, he'll go after James and won't stop until he kills him. And as much as I would love to be an only child, I don't want my brother dead, especially not at the hands of Kevin Knight."

"Which I get," Chels nodded. "But it's James' choice. And as long as he doesn't spill any of your family's secrets then there shouldn't be a problem. And I doubt he's going to go and tell your parents or Kevin Knight. Chances are Katie Knight isn't going to either. I saw the way she was looking at James that night at the movie theater. She really likes him, Shane. They've got this really intense chemistry that you can't get anywhere else."

Uh, yeah, actually you can. You two have it…

Shane sighed. "I just think that getting involved, especially romantically involved, with the enemy is stupid. She could easily betray him. He could say the wrong thing and accidentally give away something that our family has hidden away. And if things end badly…"

"Then things end badly, and that's the way it goes. But they deserve to have the chance, Shane," Chelsea said to him, almost pleadingly. "They deserve to take the shot. If they miss, then they'll move on. But if it's a slam dunk…it could actually bring your families together. Who's going to want to fight when their kids are in love with each other?"

Shane rubbed his temples. "I see your point…kind of…"

"You know I'm right."

"Ughh…inter-gang politics is so complicated."

"You're telling me. And I'm not even actually part of the family business. If I was, I would be so screwed."

"You and me, sister, you and me," Jess agreed as she walked down the stairs, her long brown hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. "Anyway, Jeff's given me the night off, so please tell me we're going to go out and do something."

"We are, we're going to see a movie," I told her.

"Sweet. Which one?"

"That new fantasy thriller one," Shane said.

"Oooh, I've been wanting to see that one!" Jess grinned.

"Right? It looks awesome. Oh, and I think we're going to be going to dinner beforehand."

"Which restaurant?"

"_Bella Terra_," Mom announced, joining us. "I just made reservations. We're all going tonight, and then you kids can go and do whatever you want. But it's been awhile since we've all done something together as a family and as an extended family."

"Thanks, Mrs. D!" Chels beamed at her. "Have I mentioned lately how cool you are?"

"Nope, so please do tell me."

"You're seriously the coolest person ever."

"Why, thank you very much."

At six-o-clock exactly, we – my dad, my mom, Shane, Chelsea, Jessica, and I – arrived at _Bella Terra_, a fancy Italian restaurant just a block or so down from that boutique with the French name. Amazing how none of the stores or restaurants in this town actually seem to have English names…

Mom squealed as she clutched Dad's arm. "This is going to be so much fun! I can't remember the last time we went out together when it wasn't for a charity banquet."

Dad nodded. "It's been awhile, and you can thank the Knights for that."

"I hope they don't stir up trouble tonight…"

He airily brushed away her concerns. "I'm sure they won't. And even if they want to, they have no right. This restaurant is very clearly in neutral territory, so they can't do a damn thing about it. And what are the chances that they'll even show up here tonight? As far as I know, the Knight kids are still in the hospital, so I highly doubt Kevin and Jennifer Knight will be showing up here."

Apparently his spies were lacking in the enemy intelligence department, because I knew more about the Knights' whereabouts than he did. And that right there was worrying…

I cleared my throat. "Um, Dad? I heard that Kendall and Katie Knight are actually out of the hospital…"

"Oh. Well. That's embarrassing. But still, there's about two hundred restaurants in this damn town. They're not going to choose this one."

"Probably not," I agreed as the hostess approached us, and led us to our table.

"I mean," he continued on. "Our luck would have to be pretty bad for that to happen."

I nodded, just as we were seated around the table. The hostess handed us each a menu, before walking away and returning with glasses of water.

I propped my menu open and began to scan the list of dinner items. My eyes had drifted halfway down the page when the bell over the door chimed cheerfully. I inadvertently looked up, and my mouth fell open.

Our luck was obviously pretty bad, because the entire Knight family had just walked into the restaurant.

I should have seen it coming from a mile away, I really should have. Dad and I were so adamant about the Knights not showing up, that of course they would show up. It was obvious. It was Murphy's Law. Rule of thumb. Whatever expression you want to use.

Dad looked up to, and his jaw immediately locked up. "No. Fucking. Way. Fucking Knights."

The others glanced up from their menus, and Shane groaned. "Okay, really? Are they, like, stalking us?"

"Please, please, pleeeaaassse don't do anything," Mom pleaded with Dad. "Please don't go drawing your gun on them or something. Or insulting them or attacking them in any way. I just want a nice, quiet, peaceful, relaxing dinner with you guys."

Dad sighed. "Fine. I'll behave myself. What're the chances that the Knights are even going to be seated over here, anyway?"

He really needed to stop talking, because he was seriously just bringing this all down upon us.

Because, sure enough, the Knights were led towards a corner table, with just another table in-between us. And the table that was going to have to act as a wall was a two-seater.

Really?

Didn't everyone in this town know that you don't seat the Diamonds and the Knights anywhere near each other? The last time that happened, Dad and Kevin ended up shooting at each other over the Duck a L'orange.

Mom was not pleased.

She took Dad's gun away from him for a month, and told him she was going to send him to trigger happy anonymous if he kept this up.

You don't mess with that woman.

I slowly lowered my menu as my eyes focused on Katie. God, she looked amazing in a short red skirt and a white halter tube top. She was wearing makeup, and her hair was lush and cascading down her back and over her shoulders in loose curls.

My baby girl.

Mine.

"So, that's the baby Knight?" Jess asked, leaning over to whisper to me.

I nodded. "That's Katie."

"She's pretty."

"Believe me, I'm very much aware."

She smirked and pulled away, just as Katie glanced over her shoulder at us. She caught my eye and gave me a tiny smile, which I returned, before looking away and sitting down between her brother and mother.

My eyes narrowed as Felix Knight took his seat, his upper lip curling into a sneer. Kevin said something to him, and Felix gave him a curt nod, before looking down at his phone. I wondered if that was a good sign…

We managed to order our food without incident. I let out a small sigh of relief. I just wanted to get through tonight, so that I could hang out with Katie tomorrow night.

Just a little while longer…just a little while before I could make my escape…

* * *

**Katie's POV**

"We have to do something," Uncle Felix hissed at Dad. "The Diamonds were obviously waiting for us."

"We don't have to do anything," Dad replied, taking a sip of his water. "And they weren't waiting for us. If they were, we'd already be dead. Clearly they just want to have a nice family meal, just like us."

Felix didn't say another word until after we were halfway through our meal. "You know," he said loudly, "the rumors are obviously true about the Diamonds."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see James, Jeff, and Shane Diamond tensing up. It looked like they had heard. Crap.

"What rumors?" Dad asked warily.

"The rumors about them being complete rip-offs to the mob family name. They're not real mobsters, not hardcore the way the Knights are. They're just sitting around on their lazy asses, getting rich and fat off of other people's hard work."

Dad dropped his head into his hands as Jeff Diamond got to his feet.

"Repeat that?" he challenged Uncle Felix, who got to his feet.

"Your entire family is a good for nothing inbred redneck clan. I wouldn't even say that about the Stetsons – just you fucking Diamonds."

James and Shane both stood up as well. I shrank back slightly, both intrigued and scared by the hard look in James' eyes. Something told me that this wasn't going to go well for either of our families, and there wasn't anything I could say to James without giving away my association with him.

I saw the redhead – Chelsea – put her hand on Shane's hip, and the brunette – Jessica – grabbed James' arm, but they both stepped out from the girls' grips, standing shoulder to shoulder with their father as they advanced on us.

Mom and I both got to our feet as did Brooke, Chelsea, and Jessica. We retreated to opposite sides of the room as Dad, Felix, and Kendall stood up, their bodies a hard barrier.

"Anyway we can stop this?" I asked Mom, leaning back against the wall, looking back and forth between Dad, Kendall, and James.

"We wouldn't be able to stop this if we could suddenly hypnotize them so that they were under our influence," she replied, just as Jeff said,

"Three against three. We're playing fair, Knight. Consider yourself fucking lucky." And then he punched Felix in the face.

All hell broke loose, food flying everywhere, the tables tumbling over, chairs sprawled all over the floor. Bodies stumbled in every which way, our fellow diners making a run for it as my family and the Diamonds beat the crap out of each other.

I slid to the ground, covering my face with my hands.

I was pretty sure this was the definition of _disaster_.

We ended up being escorted out of the restaurant by security guards, before being shoved unceremoniously into the parking lot. Felix immediately marched over to our car and slid in, arms crossed, but the rest of us ignored him.

Shane tugged Chelsea and Jessica towards their car, and Mom and Brooke disappeared as well, leaving Dad, Kendall, James, Jeff, and me to face each other, spacing out across the parking lot.

I bit on my bottom lip as I crossed my arms over my chest, surveying James. "Well, tonight was interesting."

"I noticed," he said dryly. I could see a deep bruise blossoming on his right cheekbone, and a cut had sliced through his left eyebrow. "Your uncle provoked us."

"Your dad didn't have to throw the first punch," I pointed out.

"Your uncle insulted our family, and your dad didn't even try to get him to shut the hell up."

"Duh, our families don't get along. But your dad didn't have to get violent. We ended up kicked out of the restaurant."

"What the hell was he supposed to do? Our family's reputation was at stake."

"Right, he was protecting your family's virtue," I snorted. "Like that's even possible."

His eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me?"

"You're excused," I snapped.

"This wasn't my fault! You want to bitch about something, bitch about your jackass uncle and your lame ass father!"

"My uncle and father aren't any worse than your family is! They're no worse than you! You almost killed me the first night we met."

"I told you, I was bluffing. Your dad busted into my living room with his men and guns drawn!"

"You and your dad crashed my family's party!" I screamed. "And stole something!"

"We retrieved a bracelet that belongs to _us_. Your dad and brother stole it from _us_."

"Bullshit."

"Right back at you." We were now nose-to-nose – well, kind of, considering even in my wedges I was still close to a foot shorter than him. It's times like this when being petite royally sucks. "Your dad couldn't even protect you and your brother, he couldn't keep you two from almost being blown up and from being shot at," he hissed. "So I guess he wouldn't be able to stop his own brother from a bar fight."

I reacted instinctively. I slapped him as hard as I could across the face, causing him to stagger back slightly, his eyes going icy cold.

"You know what? Forget our plans for tomorrow. I don't think I want to get involved with a _Knight_." He spat out my last name like it was a filthy word.

"Fine with me," I snapped. "I wouldn't want to get involved with a Diamond."

"Good to know." James spun around and stalked towards his car, while I stomped off in the direction of mine. Filthy, good for nothing Diamond.

The ride home was silent, everyone either too sore or too angry to say anything.

Once we got to the house, I slammed up to my room and locked myself in for the night, grinding my teeth. In all honesty, I wasn't sure who I was more angry with – James, or my uncle. Maybe more my uncle…I had the strangest feeling that I had taken my anger out on James, but he hadn't been any better. He had no right to say any of those things about my dad…It was probably a good thing that we weren't seeing each other tomorrow. He was a Diamond and I was a Knight. The two didn't mix. We were like oil and water, or algebra textbooks and a spilled candle. We didn't dissolve, we didn't mesh – instead, we just exploded. We weren't meant for each other, and we weren't good for each other. All we would end up doing was fighting. We were too different, too protective of our families.

And that was the way it was supposed to be.

But it still wasn't fair.

I let out a deep sigh as I began to get ready for bed. One day back in the real world and whatever James and I had had, had completely crumbled. I wasn't sure what that said about us, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

I crawled in between the sheets, stretching out, and fighting back the misery, anger, and loss that was threatening to consume me. But even as I began to drift off, a thought flashed through my mind: This isn't over.

And I somehow knew that things were only getting started.

Tonight was only the beginning.

* * *

**James' POV**

I was pretty sure there wasn't a single inch of me that didn't throb furiously.

I couldn't remember the last time I had seen my face so multi-colored, and I couldn't even figure out if Katie had actually caused any of the bruises.

Her slap had echoed in the darkness like the sting as her hand connected with my face. And the snapping pain was still there, a tattoo etched into my skin. I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be able to shake that memory anytime soon.

I conked out almost the second my head hit the pillow, but I awoke two hours later to my face aching ferociously. I groaned and pushed the covers back, stumbling out of my room and down the stairs to the kitchen. I found Dad and Shane sitting at the table, ice packs strewn over various parts of their bodies.

My lips twitched slightly at the sight, but I grabbed a bag of frozen peas nonetheless and joined them.

"Those damn Knights," Dad grumbled.

"But we got them good," Shane managed to grin from behind his bag of frozen carrots. "We beat the shit out of them."

I nodded in agreement. "Felix Knight at the very least deserved it."

"Yes, he did," Dad shifted the ice pack from one shoulder to the other. "Fucking Knights."

I leaned back against my chair, sighing, just as a buzzing noise erupted through the kitchen, echoing around the living room and dining room; someone was at the gate.

Dad got up and went into the entrance hall to check to see who it was. Shane and I reluctantly followed him, moving stiffly. Dad placed his finger on the intercom button and spoke into the mic. "State your name and your business."

"Darrin Finnegan. I'm a messenger for the Knights."

"You have a message for us?"

"I do. They want your son – your older one, not the younger one – to meet with their daughter. They have something they want to discuss, but they want to do it through those two."

"My son held a gun to their daughter's head," Dad pointed out. "Why would they risk it?"

"I have no idea, I'm just the messenger. Oh, the time they suggested is at nine PM tomorrow night. Does that work?"

"It does. Is that all?"

"It is."

"Fine. Be on your way." Dad stepped away from the intercom and eyed me. "Looks like you have a date with the baby Knight."

It looked like Katie's and my date was back on.

* * *

_**Yeah...I just had to throw some extra drama and twists into it. In my defense, I suck at fluff. And I really hope you guys aren't too angry with me because I know you were all super excited about James and Katie getting along and possibly dating. But, they're still being thrown back together, so that's something, right? So, um, if you aren't ready to kill me, could you maybe let me know in a review? Because believe me, it's not my intention to piss off a whole bunch of people, but it ended up being necessary for the story. I hope to hear from you guys :)**_


	10. Chapter 10: Late Night Meeting

_**Disclaimer: *Groan* No, I do not own Big Time Rush, or Starbucks, or anything recognizable in this chapter.**_

_**Katie: Thank you so much! I'm so happy you like it so far :) And thank you for your review!**_

_**KnylonMaslow: :) Sadly it did. Aww, thanks! And thank you for taking the time to review!**_

_**Hayley16: Thank you very much! I'm glad you're enjoying it. And thank you for reviewing! :)**_

_**THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who has read, followed, favorited, or reviewed this story! Eeep! You guys rock and you always manage to cheer me up, even when I'm in a crappy mood or having a bad day. :)**_

_**So, here's Chapter Ten. Good news: It didn't take me a month to update. Bad news: It still took me longer to update than I wanted it to. I'm so sorry for the delays on all my stories except for "Anywhere But Here". I ended up getting really into the story, like I do with all new ones, and my other ones got pushed aside a little. Hopefully this chapter will make up for the three week wait :)**_

_**Warnings: Language, sexual innuendos, violence, and gun use.**_

_**Enjoy the chapter :)**_

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Late Night Meeting**

**Katie's POV**

It was Felix's idea.

I didn't even know about it until the next morning when I went downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast.

"Do you have plans for tonight?" Mom asked me, a little nervously as I grabbed a blueberry muffin and a cup of coffee.

Well, gee, I did last night, but since our family and the Diamonds can't keep from fighting, I don't now. Yeah, like I would say that out loud.

"Um…not that I know of," I replied, taking a sip of my coffee before dumping a ton of sugar and cream into it. "Why do you ask?"

"Because, well, your uncle Felix had an idea and, well, we kind of already made plans for you."

I blinked slowly as I sat down at my spot at the table. "Plans? What kind of plans?" I asked cautiously.

"Plans to meet up with James Diamond," Mom responded. "So that we can, through you two, negotiate better borders."

"Borders?"

"Yeah, lines if you will, to separate the town. Obviously there are sections that are no man's land, but after last night, we need to define who gets which part better."

"And you're not going to war over this?" I asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"I wanted to," Felix grumbled.

"We decided not to shed any more blood over this than is necessary," Dad explained to me.

"Ah."

He nodded. "We're going to do it at nine tonight."

"Where?"

"At the corner of Dreary Boulevard and Chanson Avenue."

"Do the Diamonds know?"

"We just sent Darrin over a little while ago to tell them."

I slowly nodded. "So…I guess it's all arranged?"

Dad nodded again. "It is. And don't worry, we're not sending you in unprotected. Felix is setting up some sort of security thing, and you'll be carrying a gun."

"Okay. But why me? Why James?"

He shrugged. "It was Felix's idea. He thought it might be better if we had two of the kids talk it out, and we weren't going to send Kendall, since he and James would end up coming to blows."

"Why not ask for Shane?"

"James is more involved in the business, the same way you and Kendall are. Shane doesn't have as much to do with it."

"Ah."

"Yeah."

I let out a breath, blowing my bangs out of my face. "So, are we trying to make a peace treaty with them or something?"

"Not in the least," Felix broke in. "We're just making sure that there isn't any misunderstanding about the borders."

"Right…And once we have the borders figured out, then what happens?"

"We're working on that."

"We have plans for getting the bracelet back," Dad added in. "We need it back, it can't stay with the Diamonds."

"Why? Are you worried they're using it as a Frisbee or something?"

"No. But that bracelet rightfully belongs to us."

I groaned. I couldn't believe we were playing James Bond over a freaking bracelet. This was so stupid. Maybe I didn't appreciate our family's history enough, but as far as I was concerned, the bracelet was just that – a bracelet. Something that had caused trouble for our two families for almost a century. Something that had once symbolized a friendship, but now all it represented was pain, loss, and betrayal. It seemed like all the bracelet was good for was starting fights. I was pretty sure the bracelet would be better off buried in the ground, rather than being stolen back and forth between our two families. But I had a feeling that if I even brought it up, I would be locked in my room for the next twenty years.

I bit into my muffin, turning all of this over in my head. It was kind of amazing that even after almost a hundred years, our families still hadn't moved on. I mean, okay, I guess I kind of understood it because people had died when the feud had begun, but still. Was it really so hard to just bury the hatchet and move past century old mistakes? Was everyone in this whole damn town that block headed that they couldn't see what was right in front of them?

"So, what're your plans for the day?" Mom asked me.

"Um…class. I have to get to class in, like, an hour. And I might grab _Starbucks_ afterwards. Not sure though."

"Sounds good," she nodded, sipping from her own mug of coffee. "Oh, if you do stop at _Starbucks_, could you get me a piece of lemon pound cake?"

"Sure." I smiled and reached for the two dollars she was now passing over to me. I pocketed it and finished my muffin and coffee, before heading back upstairs to shower and get dressed. I threw my clothes on, dried my hair quickly and pulled it into a messy ponytail, grabbed my messenger bag and car keys, and dashed down the stairs and out the door.

I managed to get through my English 101 and U.S History classes, before making my way to the campus library to meet up with Camille Roberts, Jo Taylor, and Stephanie King. They were crowded at a table in the back of the library. Stephanie was sipping on her ever present latte, Camille was highlighting lines from a script she had to memorize, and Jo was twirling her pencil between her fingers, looking bored.

"Hey," I greeted them, slipping into a chair between Steph and Cami.

"Hey," Jo smiled at me. "Nice to see you out of the hospital."

"Yeah. Thanks so much for coming to visit me," I said sarcastically.

All three girls looked down at the table, ashamed.

"We were going to, but we got busy," Camille said, playing with her hair. "School and stuff."

"You mean your boyfriends."

"I was actually out of town, so I never got to see my boyfriend in the hospital," Jo pointed out.

"True," I conceded.

"We're really sorry," said Stephanie earnestly. "We weren't trying to ignore you or avoid you or anything. We were genuinely busy. It wasn't intentional."

I sighed. "I know. It's okay, you're forgiven."

"Yay!" The girls all piled on top of me in a huge bear hug, and I giggled, trying to hug them all back simultaneously.

"So," Jo said as they all pulled back, letting me having breathing room. "Did anyone else visit you when you were in the hospital?"

"Um…nope. Just Logan."

"Lie!" Camille's eyes lit up. "You're lying. Who was it? Who visited you? Was it a guy?"

I sighed. "Yeah, it was a guy."

"Are you dating him?"

"No. We can't date. Not ever."

"But…why?"

I got to my feet. "Because he's James Diamond and our families hate each other. And after last night, we hate each other too. It can't ever happen. We're not meant to be together."

"Holy shit. James Diamond visited you in the hospital?"

I wordlessly nodded.

"But…why?"

"Because he liked me."

"Why _liked_? Why past tense?"

"Last night we all ended up at the same restaurant and Dad, Felix, Kendall, James, his dad, and his brother ended up fighting and they got us kicked out."

"Oh, wow."

"Yeah. And tonight was supposed to be our first date, but now we're being conscripted by our parents to meet up anyway, to discuss the boundaries."

"Boundaries?"

"Yeah. The borders. Our territory."

"Oh, gotcha."

I nodded. "Please don't tell anyone else what I said about James. It would cause so many problems if other people knew."

"We'll keep it quiet, promise," Stephanie assured me.

"Thanks, I appreciate it. Well, I got to run. I'll see you guys later."

"See you later."

I headed out, driving down to the _Starbucks_ in town. I parked and walked on in, grabbing a place in line. I reached the front of it quickly and ordered a _Java Chip Frappuccino_, and a piece of the lemon cake for my mom. I stepped out of the way while they got my order up and glanced around the restaurant.

My stomach dropped.

James was at the counter with a gorgeous girl with straight, chin length black hair. She was tall, easily 5'8, and was super skinny, but perfectly proportioned, just like Chelsea. The difference was that this girl had an air of bitchiness about her, while I had gotten the impression that Chelsea was usually a sweetheart.

What the hell was she doing with James?!

Had he moved on already? Assuming he had to move on past me…He might not have. I might have just been a person of interest, nothing more, nothing less, than a way to pass the time.

Yet I couldn't bring myself to believe that.

James must have felt my eyes on him, because once he had paid for his drink, he looked over at me. Our gazes locked, and I suddenly had to grip a nearby table so that I wouldn't fall over. And then he stepped out of line, leaving the girl to order whatever she was getting, to walk over to me.

I kept my eyes locked on his, now leaning against the table as casually as I could, while seriously wishing that I had chosen to wear something a little more older and sophisticated then old jeans, a pink plaid button up shirt, and black and pink sneakers. I looked like a twelve year old girl compared to the other girl's skinny jeans, high heels, black shirt, and black cropped sweatshirt. So why had James ditched her for the moment to come over to me?

"Hey," he greeted me.

"Hey," I replied, still trying to appear casual and not look like I was shaken by our eye lock. "What's up? Who's the NYC wannabe?"

The right corner of his lip curved up into a smirk. "Why? You jealous?"

"Please. I thought we went over this last night. I'm just curious."

"She's Lena Carroway. Her dad works for my dad. She had a few days off from college, so my mom asked me to entertain her."

I gritted my teeth at the thought of James 'entertaining' her. Because she looked like the kind of girl who would prefer to be entertained while laying naked on a feather bed with a hot guy – such as James – kissing his way down her body. Who the fuck did that bitch think she was?!

"How nice," I managed to get out, fighting off the urge to clench my fists. "She looks…you must be having fun with her."

He shrugged. "Not really. In all honesty, she's kind of a snobby bitch."

"Really. So she hasn't tried to jump you yet?"

"So you are jealous."

"I'm not. It was just a comment."

"Katie, with you it's never just a comment."

"Whatever." I tightened my ponytail. "What're you doing here?"

"Getting coffee and trying to ignore Lena."

"I meant over here, talking with me."

He shrugged. "Between my enemy's daughter and Lena? I'd take you any day."

"Um…thanks…I guess…you're not acting very enemy-like. You should work on that."

James smirked. "I just can't act like your enemy when you look so cute. You look good in pink."

My face flushed. "I had class."

"You did. What happened to your sophistication?"

I scowled at him. "I mean, I had class at college. I had to go in to class. I just threw these clothes on, and anyway, there's nothing adorable about what I'm wearing. I'm aware that I don't look like Lena – "

"Katie, nobody in this fucking part of the country looks like Lena – "

"But I look like a college student, so shut the hell up."

He moved closer to me. "Did I hit a nerve?"

I held my ground, crossing my arms over my chest. "I wouldn't give you the satisfaction of hitting a nerve, Diamond."

"Of course not. You're a high and mighty Knight after all." He closed the distance between us, hands coming around to rest on the table, effectively entrapping me. "You'd never let the pride fall, now would you?"

I swallowed as I forced myself to look up into his eyes. So big, so beautiful, so powerful. Dark. Deep. The eye of a hurricane, the deep end of a pool, the dark blue velvet of the summer sky.

"You and your damn pride," he murmured, chest pressing against mine. I balanced myself on the table in an arch, my breath hitching. "You'd keep going out of sheer force and will."

"S-sometimes you have to," I gasped out. "You have to keep fighting."

"What the hell is going on here?"

James and I both turned our heads to find Lena standing to the side, looking completely dumbstruck.

"Who the hell is she?!" Lena demanded, crossing her arms.

"I think our drinks are up," James said, flashing her a smile. "Can you go and get them?"

She hurrumphed, but nonetheless stalked over to the counter.

James lifted his hands, gripping my waist and gently pulling me away from the table. I could feel the exact spot where the table had pressed into my back.

I smirked. "You're slipping. You just tried to seduce the enemy's daughter in public."

"And if anyone asks, it was interrogation tactics. We both know you can't resist me." He smirked too.

"Bullshit. You're the one who's come onto me. You want me."

"And you want me."

"Well, no one ever said I made smart decisions." I smirked at the dark look crossing his face.

"Okay, you know what – "

Before I could find out _what_, there was an echoing crash as the front window of the coffee shop shattered.

A long, tense, shocked silence followed, and then one of the baristas let out an ear piercing scream.

Another window shattered, and the next thing I knew, James was shoving me down to my knees behind a table, yanking his gun out of the waistband of his jeans.

"What the hell is going on?" I hissed at him, wishing I had brought my own gun.

"No fucking clue." He took aim and pulled the trigger, the blast exploding out the end of the weapon. I automatically covered my ears while huddling next to James. He slipped an arm around my waist, pushing me a little behind him as another shot boomed through the room. He aimed again, shooting the gun once more.

Quiet settled over the coffee shop.

No one moved, nor did they say anything.

The shock in the room was palpable, enough to keep us immobile, as still as mannequins

At last, James turned to me, face stark white, jaw set and eyes dark. "Are you okay?"

I wordlessly nodded in answer and he pulled me against him, holding me tightly. I leaned into him, almost clinging to him.

Sirens sounded a moment later, and we pulled away from each other.

"We need to get out of here," James said in a hushed voice to me.

I nodded in agreement. James couldn't be caught with a gun, and my dad would throw a fit if I was dragged into the police station for questioning

Definitely time to go.

James signaled Lena forward, I snatched my drink and my mom's pound cake up from the counter, and we all dashed out the door. As I reached my car, James called to me:

"Katie?"

I glanced over my shoulder at him. "Yeah?"

"Just…be careful driving home…please?"

I nodded. "I will be. You too."

He nodded back and we simultaneously climbed into the driver's seats of our cars, Lena getting in on the passenger side of James' car. I started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, James following close behind me. I glanced in my rearview mirror at him, almost longingly.

It wasn't fair that we couldn't be together.

It just wasn't fair.

The second I stepped into the house, my parents were on me like cats on tuna fish.

"Are you okay?" my mom cried as she pulled me into a huge hug. "Is it true there was a shootout at Starbucks?"

"Something like that…I'm not really sure what happened. But I'm okay, I promise."

"James Diamond was there?" Dad asked as he hugged me as well.

"Yeah. We were shot at through the window, and he pulled out his gun and started shooting back at them. I think he might've saved my life…again…"

"Again…Well, at least you're alive. Are you going to be up to going tonight?"

I nodded, eager to see James again, especially in a place that didn't need its own bomb shelter and when I wasn't looking like I had stepped out of the girls' section at Wal-Mart.

"Okay, so I guess we'll continue on as scheduled."

"Sounds good."

I had dinner with my family and once I had finished eating, I took a quick shower and changed into skinny jeans, a blood red cropped tank top, my black leather coat, and boots. I dried my hair and fluffed it out, before carefully lining my eyes with a black pencil, adding eye shadow to my eye lids, brushing blush onto my cheeks, and painting my mouth with dark red lipstick.

I capped the lipstick and admired my handiwork. There. I actually looked my age, not to mention fucking hot. James wasn't going to know what hit him when he saw me, and that was just what I wanted. I had no idea how tonight was going to go, or if anything was even going to happen between us, but I knew after our encounter in the coffee shop that afternoon that he was definitely still interested in me. And goodness knows I was still interested in him. I wasn't going to let him go that easily, that much was for sure. I just needed to confirm that he felt the same way about me.

I just hoped I wasn't wrong about what had happened in Starbucks…Because if I was, I had no idea what I would do. I wasn't very good when it came to humiliation and embarrassment, and if it happened at the hands of James Diamond…I didn't even want to think about it. I just wanted to get the night over with and figure out if I was right or not. And fuck…I hoped I was right…

I did another quick check to ensure that I still looked incredible, and grabbed my purse, slipping my handgun into it, just in case something went wrong and the person who had shot at the coffee shop that afternoon showed up and decided to finish what they started.

Because it was too much of a coincidence that whenever James and I were in the same place at the same time, something seemed to go wrong. Definitely too much of a coincidence. This was the third time one of us had been attacked when we were together.

I hitched my purse over my shoulder, snatched up my car keys, and made my way down the stairs. My parents were waiting for me with Kendall, my uncle nowhere in sight. I hugged each of them and nodded as Dad and Kendall gave me last minute advice, listening to them carefully and doing my best to memorize the information.

At last, I headed out to my car and slid in, taking a deep breath.

Time to go meet up with James.

I still had no idea what security measures my family was going to be taking in order to keep me safe. No one had brought it up and as long as it didn't interfere with my job, I wasn't going to complain.

I drove through Cherry Lake carefully, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be dangerous. I reached Dreary Boulevard and Chanson Avenue about ten minutes later and grinned when I saw the all-too familiar black Dodge Challenger parked at the side of the road, James leaning up against it. I took him in as I parked behind him, letting out a deep breath. His jeans were too tight for their own good, his leather jacket hugging his chest in an almost obscene way, and his combat boots adding an edge to his appearance.

I bit my lip and shut the ignition off, before opening the car door and sliding out, striding towards him. "Diamond," I greeted him.

He smirked at me. "Knight. Do your parents let you leave the house looking like that?"

I smirked back as I approached him. "Looking like what?"

"Sexy. It seems like your father would make sure you're completely covered up when you have to meet with the enemy."

"He didn't even notice what I was wearing," I replied with a shrug. "So your theory is pointless."

"Far cry from all the pink in the coffee shop this afternoon."

"I saved my femme fatale wear for tonight."

"Obviously. You going to try to seduce me?"

I bit my lip, looking up into his face. "Depends on if you try to seduce me first."

He inhaled sharply, clearly not expecting me to say that. "Let's figure out these damn boundaries, and then we'll talk seduction. Work before play, all that shit."

"Right. So, how do you want to do this?"

"You get Dreary Boulevard and we get Chanson Avenue?"

"Done. And you get everything on your side, and we get everything on our side?"

"Sounds good. And if we cross the borders?"

"We better have a damn good reason."

He nodded. "Sounds fair. Although you have more restaurants than us…"

"And you have more stores than we do…"

"Wouldn't it just be easier to not stay in a place that the other person is in?" he suggested. "I mean, we can keep the boundaries, but we don't make the rules too strict?"

"I'll run it by my dad and uncle, see if they like that idea. It makes sense, though. That way we're not breaking any rules by driving through town."

"Exactly." James nodded once more. "If the town was split evenly, then this would be different, but it's not, so it's kind of a complicated problem to figure out…"

"That it is," I agreed. "There's no easy solution to this. I say we make the suggestions to our parents and have them okay it, and then we can meet up again with the answers and any other ideas they've come up with."

"That works," he volunteered. "Damn. Who knew being enemies could be so complicated?"

"We should have figured it out the day you crashed our masquerade party," I pointed out. "When you flirt with a girl and then hold her at gun point, that's usually a sign that things are about to get a little bit nuts."

"How do you know I wasn't just trying to get information out of you?" he challenged.

"Because you had no clue who I was. And I didn't know who you were. And…James. We can't hate each other, no matter what we do. We're loyal to our families and I imagine we'll always do our best to put them first, but we're not capable of hating each other. We care about each other too much. You've saved my life a few different times. That's not something you do for an enemy."

"I know," he said softly. "Believe me, I've figured that part out for myself."

"And I know nothing can happen between us. With our families, it just wouldn't be possible."

"Yeah…the consequences wouldn't be pretty. Shane's reaction to me sneaking out to see you in the hospital was proof enough of that. I don't want to go through that again."

I nodded. "Yeah, exactly. It's just not…it can't happen."

"Never."

"So…I should probably go…"

"Probably," he agreed.

"So…um…I'll see you later."

"Yeah…see you later."

I gave him a half smile and started towards my door, but before I could get more than a few steps away from him, he called me back.

"Katie?"

"Yeah?" I paused in my tracks, glancing at him over my shoulder. The next thing I knew, his fingers were enclosing around my wrist, yanking me against him. I tilted my head to look up at him, our eyes locking for a long moment. His eyes zoned into mine, dark and intense and beautiful.

And then his lips were on mine, soft yet hard at the same time, every bit as intense as his eyes, and I was kissing him back just as passionately, winding my arms around his neck to pull him closer. He wrapped his own arms around my waist, pressing me up against him, and I deepened the kiss even more, one of my hands creeping upward to cup his face, my thumb stroking down his cheekbone. He lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist, letting out a soft moan as he nipped at my bottom lip. He did it again, a little more roughly this time, and I returned the favor. He groaned against my lips, pushing me back against his car door as I entwined my fingers in his hair, tugging slightly.

His hand slipped under my jacket, hot and rough against my bare skin, and I pushed myself even closer, needing more, craving more. I couldn't even bring myself to care that I was kissing the enemy. As far as I was concerned, if all enemies had this kind of intense chemistry, the world would be more peaceful than Venus.

Really, we were saving the world here.

At last, James pulled away, eyes sparkling, chest heaving, lips swollen, and I looked at him, doing my best to catch my breath.

"So much for not happening," I finally said after a few seconds.

He let out a small laugh. "Yeah…that didn't go so well."

"Not in the least."

"Are you complaining?"

I shook my head and he grinned, before kissing me again.

Yeah, definitely no complaints there.

* * *

_**First of all, sorry for any typos in there. I did a really quick read through since I just finished it a little while ago and decided to post it. If there's any blaring mistakes, let me know and I'll fix them.**_

**_Anyway, what'd you guys think...? James and Katie really can't stay mad at each other...Please review and let me know what you guys thought of the chapter, if you liked it or not :) I love hearing from you guys, and it encourages me to write a little bit faster._**


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